Microsoft Loves Freedom, Democracy... and Linux? No, Microsoft Laying Off Because "Microsoft Loves Linux" Was Failed Posturing, Its Former Staff Moves to GNU/Linux
That didn't work, did it?
Slopfarms seem to be picking up the real story now (the one Nadella has tried hard to distract from for 3-4 days already).
Someone asked me today: "What are the running totals for IBM and Microsoft layoffs?"
I said these were uncountable due to PIPs (pushing workers out to make it look not like layoffs). The WARN Act does not work, it is being skirted/avoided.
"Might be approximate though, as ranges," I was told about the scale of layoffs. So I said "about 15% per year" (knowing it happened at Microsoft last year, maybe IBM too; there are "Forever Layoffs" there). This was an hour ago, it's just nonstop:
"A noteworthy amount" I was told about 15% per year (shedding off at this rate would mean Microsoft runs out of staff very fast). If the claims that Microsoft will lay off 5-10% this month are correct, then that may mean Microsoft shedding off about a quarter of its entire workforce in little more than a year. "What about the 'Dead Sea Effect' at either place?" I was asked. "Not that Microsoft was any good to begin with..."
The Dead Sea Effect is based on the idea "that the good or highly sought after employees will not tolerate bad practices because opportunity is not limited for them. So the “salt” left behind is people who either facilitate or encourage bad practices, or are too incompetent to find another job."
Today we noticed that the developer of the GNU/Linux distro AnduinOS had left Microsoft. To quote: "The developer behind the project, who previously worked at Microsoft, stated that the 1.3 branch is based on Ubuntu 25.04 and will subsequently reach end of life on January 30, 2026." (He was still at Microsoft months ago)
Regarding the layoffs, which may have impacted him, we believe that when giving figures/tallies it is better to focus on the knowns (or confirmed) so as to avoid being name-called/smeared. Our tally of 30,000+ (Microsoft layoffs for 2025 alone) is based on real numbers. Every month from January till November last year Microsoft had widespread layoffs; some of the layoffs in China were very extensive. █