Microsoft Blasted for Adding Insult to Injury: Workers Laid Off Without Prior Notice, Without Severance Payment and Basic Coverage (Like Health), Then Stigmatised as Bad Performers So They Cannot Find a Job Elsewhere
Such stereotypes end entire careers.
LAST month we said (and cited others saying so) that the way Microsoft implemented layoffs last month (there were two waves of mass layoffs; one wave had nothing to do with "performance") would destroy entire careers and families. The second wave of mass layoffs had nothing whatsoever to do with "performance"; yet those laid off in January 2025 would forever be stigmatised as "low performers".
Now there's this new report about Facebook ("Meta") and Microsoft doing this. To quote some portions:
- Meta has begun laying people off, after saying it would cut jobs by targeting "low performers."- Microsoft also made performance-related cuts in January.
- Layoffs can be traumatic for workers, and the added tag of "low performer" can make it worse.
"Low performers" are in the firing line.
Meta began laying people off Monday after saying it would target its lowest performers. Microsoft also sent termination letters last month, telling people their performance had "not met minimum performance standards."
Both companies' announcements in January about the layoffs triggered an online debate. Targeting the lowest performers may be logical for the companies' bottom lines, but the publicity surrounding layoffs can give those a negative label that can compound the difficulties of being laid off.
"Business Insider contacted Meta and Microsoft for comment," it says. Did they bother to reply?
Anyway, that's a warning sign to anyone wishing to work for those companies. Heck, better to resign right now. Maybe that's even what GAFAM hopes for; it wants people to leave without having to tell shareholders about "layoffs"; weeks ago in Google they asked staff to take "voluntary layoffs, which is ridiculous on many levels. In Amazon, everyone is being forced "back" into the office (even workers who always worked from home; to them "RTO" has no "R"). Amazon very well knows many would simply resign instead.█