Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Lays Off Many More Workers in the Advertising Division/s and Terminates Products While the Press is Distracted by TikTok Rumours



WARN Act
"Might be an idea to look at WARN Act [1, 2] stuff," Ryan noted today (in #techrights IRC). "Of course, Microsoft can just keep it coming in small chunks to get around the WARN Act."



Summary: Microsoft is laying off a huge number of workers without properly reporting these and whilst exploring ways to divert attention away from those layoffs

Cortana's many deaths were hardly covered in the media over this past week, maybe half a week or so (we saw some Microsoft-connected sites issuing face-saving spin about that, e.g. The Verge and GeekWire). There's something potentially big going on there, but nobody is researching and properly reporting on it, as it is instead derived from Microsoft's own statements. Don't they have time to actually study what is really going on? An associate of ours blames the TikTok media storm (about 2 days old now), which grooms Microsoft while ignoring the severe issues it has been having. So we've examined what Microsoft insiders are writing anonymously in thelayoff.com. The findings are very telling.



Ryan and I have been looking closely, equipped with knowledge about prior layoffs, at anonymous posts. We examined things mostly so as to investigate whether layoffs are involved (or, in other words, whether Cortana workers were reassigned to another project/department). Since Microsoft propaganda sites belittle the whole thing (Microsoft has apparently killed it off completely, across everything, just like its stores) and there's no indication that these developers will stay onboard, are we looking at yet another wave of layoffs? We lack contacts with people in these divisions so we can't think of a way to find out if they're sacked. But earlier today we heard about other units and it doesn't look/sound too good. Microsoft sounds like a company that's collapsing while lying to shareholders.

"There's no way they'll make any large layoffs abruptly as they've done in the past and they've already been cutting folks ~slowly~ since May," says this message. "According to this guy," Ryan noted, "Microsoft rarely, if ever, allows anyone working there to reach 55 and have their pension become vested."

"Trickling layoffs out over time allows them to remain free of any potential bad press from contributing to the unemployment problem in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis," says another message. Those are insiders from Microsoft, some of whom saw or suffered layoffs.

"I'm a PM [Program Manager] in windows COSINE D&I," says this message, and "my job got eliminated yesterday. This was business driven and is not performance related. So, yes, layoffs are happening..."

"According to this," Ryan noted, "Microsoft was twice as likely to lay you off if you were over 40."

This is typical across many companies other than Microsoft. But it now seems like there's another layoffs round at Microsoft (sixth this summer!), though we need to know the numbers. We have a associate who thinks they use TikTok to just (or mostly) bury this news even if the TikTok thing is made-up or superficial nonsense... just to provide ‘cover’ through it'll never materialise.

"Layoffs in the Windows division according to this guy," Ryan has found (Azure also, definitely!). "Didn't say how many, but he was a Program Manager (their title for a supervisor that directly oversees an entire project, usually with 50-100 people reporting to them)." Ryan used to be a Microsoft MVP, so he knows a thing or two about the company.

"D&I is Data and Intelligence," Ryan said. "That would be the people doing the data collection that Windows 10 performs on the user in the background in order to "optimize" advertising. Across Windows Store, Bing, Edge, and Skype. It's interesting that they're firing firing their adtech people, if true. Are they trying to pivot away from advertising?"

The real news at Microsoft right now is nothing related to TikTok (not anything related to mergers and/or acquisitions) but covert layoffs of large magnitude/scale. Ryan continued: "He describes working there as a descent into "paranoia" about quarterly performance reviews and if you'll even have a job soon."

"Another [Microsoft] poster said when he was close to becoming vested (2 years short), he started getting negative performance reviews out of nowhere and they eventually showed him the door."

Earlier today I learned (on the phone) about people there being being denied "senior" roles for ages. This is unconventional by GAFAM standards.

Only about a month after Bill Gates had more or less "officially" left Microsoft (except as shareholder) they may have tested the response to Microsoft layoffs with that bogus spin about replacing "a few" workers with "AI"; since then about 5,000 layoffs have gone under the radar.

"Cortana is an analytics and telemetry app that data mines people while pretending to be a digital assistant," Ryan remarked. "They built it directly into the Windows shell and turned it on by default (wasting a lot of panel space) to lure people into using it. I just don't think they got the return on investment they were hoping for as an adtech."

The more we learn about Microsoft layoffs, the more likely it seems that the TikTok rumours serve to distract from the layoffs, and likely by design/intention. If that was the plan, it worked!

"Cortana would likely be in COSINE D&I," Ryan said. They've fired even the managers there. Microsoft is in a bad state if not a state of collapse, but it'll do anything to distract from that. It even lies to its own shareholders, as Microsoft insiders have told us repeatedly. If that's not sinister enough (that insiders know Microsoft fakes its performance), we don't know what is...

Recent Techrights' Posts

LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: What Was Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
We hope to finish this whole lot within a week, then move on to election, lobbying etc.
 
One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
"With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
Links for the day
Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
Links for the day
In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2025: Tariffs Backfiring, YouTuber Arrested, X/Twitter Set to be Fined
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Offline is For Everyone, Copyright Colonialism, and More
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
Links for the day
Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025
Techrights Has Dealt With More Potent SLAPPs Than Violent Microsofters Begging to Hide What They Did to Women
I became accustomed to SLAPPs
Links 04/04/2025: Fury in South Korea, Flight MH370 Remains Mystery
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Anger and Raspberry Pi CM4
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2025: LLM Slop Bubble Bursting and Korea Music Copyright Association Bans Slop 'Music'
Links for the day
Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses
Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding)
verified press reports from the past 24 hours
A Note on SimilarWeb
Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low
GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags
A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control)
Links for the day
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025