The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
When you lay off over 10,000 people just before a national holiday!
We are happy - even relieved - to see many articles about Microsoft Pakistan [1-4] (we saw more, those are just a few). "Microsoft Pakistan shuts down operations after 25 years," says one headline. It's not alone. We mentioned this 2 days ago (The Register was first to notice and report it based on a LinkedIn post) and started to worry it would slip under the rug, brushed aside for nobody to notice, even after the long weekend in the US (it's a holiday). Microsoft chose those dates deliberately. It did the same last year.
A year ago we published "In Pakistan, Only One in 6 Windows Users is Using the Latest Windows (Vista 11)" and earlier this year we published "Only About 3.6% of Web Users in Pakistan Use Vista 11, According to statCounter".
Microsoft clearly has issues not only in Pakistan.
We keep seeing significant lies being spread. As one example of garbage reporting, consider this hours-old headline: "Microsoft Layoffs Are Funding Increased Spending in AI Infrastructure" (published earlier today).
No, it's about debt and a huge lie. Someone wrote: "Hate to say it but in order to fund $80 billion for AI investments they are going to displace a lot more than 10k employees from North America, Europe..."
The key or core issue is not "AI" but Microsoft's debt increasing by over 8 billion dollars in the past 6 months and Windows' market share rapidly shrinking due to Android.
In other places we saw claims that Microsoft had "two" layoffs this year and the total is 15,000 workers.
Those numbers are wrong. They are typically LLM slop. Microsoft had almost 10 waves of mass layoffs this year, including two giant ones in China (totalling nearly 5,000 workers just in China). We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January. That's our tally. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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Microsoft Pakistan shuts down operations after 25 years: Why is tech giant leaving the country?
Microsoft has ended its operations in Pakistan after 25 years, citing global restructuring. The tech firm says local partners will continue delivery.
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Microsoft closes office in Pakistan, lays off staff
Earlier, media reports suggested that the global tech giant had moved its operations out of the country.
These were based on a LinkedIn post by Jawad Rehman, the former head of Microsoft in Pakistan. Citing sources, he claimed the company “is officially closing its operations in Pakistan”.
Microsoft had an on-ground presence in Pakistan until recently, albeit with a significantly reduced local workforce. Most of its operations were handled from foreign offices and by partners in Pakistan, people familiar with the matter told Dawn.
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Microsoft Shuts Down Pakistan Office After 25 Years Amid Global Restructuring And Layoffs
Microsoft has officially shut down its office in Pakistan and laid off five employees, marking a significant development in the country's tech sector, as reported by Dawn. The move, which sparked speculation on social media, was first brought to public attention by a LinkedIn post from Jawad Rehman, the former head of Microsoft Pakistan. Citing insider information, he claimed the tech giant had "officially closed its operations" in the country.
While Microsoft maintained a small on-ground presence in Pakistan until recently, most of its operations were already being managed by foreign offices and local partners, according to Dawn.
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Microsoft Pakistan Office Shuts Down After 25 Years
Jawwad Rehman, former country head for Microsoft Pakistan, took to LinkedIn to call for urgent government intervention. “Even global giants like Microsoft find it unsustainable to stay,” he said, urging the IT ministry to initiate KPI-driven engagement strategies with international firms.