Summary: We think we now know why we get trolled so badly in IRC, mostly today and also this past week; Microsoft is in trouble (not that Microsoft-sponsored "media" will admit this; it resorts to mindless spin)

Minutes ago:

This article hypes up the hyped-up chatbot that has only caused further losses (no profit and a rapid loss of interest). It has meanwhile been noted that Microsoft won't even count many of the redundancies as layoffs because of temps and contractors:

Never mind the H1B, MSFT (and others, like DELL) have been moving to the Contract Worker for ages now. What's that? That's when you get to hire someone with no HR support, no benefits, no commitment, dangle a carrot so they work long hours in hopes of FTE role, only to tell them over and over "we are working on it", and never hire them, only to end the contract with short notice, whenever you want. All the while practicing EQUITY and INCLUSION.

This was called out weeks ago as "fake jobs" or "fake workers". Think of those roles as glorified "gig work". They help managers lie about expansion and take more (or higher) bonuses.