Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Devises PR Stunts to Distract From Impending Mass Layoffs and Likely Bad Results Preceding Those Mass Layoffs

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 22, 2025

Cracked dry earth

A "voluntary exit plan"

The mafia don corleone: When the boss says jump, you jump. Kapish?

Earlier today: Microsoft's Debt Grew Over 6 Billion Dollars in the Last Reporting Quarter (Before Inauguration), Expect Worse Next Week When 'Results' Are Disclosed and Mass Layoffs Resume

We have grown accustomed to this. We've seen this before. This is ever so familiar to us. Why? IBM, not just Microsoft. We also covered this HR method in relation to Sirius Open Source, so I personally know it all too well. I heard it all before.

What is it?

Is it the "voluntary exit plan" (or "buyout" or RTO or forced relocation which they know upfront almost everyone would turn down if asked).

Now Microsoft is doing it, but one must read between the lines and transcend the Microsoft spin, which many in the media blindly parrot: (some may be LLM slop or slop from falsely advertised "summarisers")

  1. Microsoft targets ‘low performers’ in a sensational new memo

    Microsoft announced steps to address low performance this week — including a two year re-hiring ban for such employees. The development comes mere weeks after the tech giant fired around 2000 employees without severance pay after deeming them as ‘underperformers’. Unverified reports suggest that Microsoft is also gearing up for a fresh round of layoffs next month.

    According to an internal email viewed by Business Insider, the company has crafted “new and enhanced tools” that will help managers to “swiftly address” low performance. The tools outlined by Chief People Officer Amy Coleman are also designed to “accelerate high performance” as Microsoft heightens its focus on accountability and growth.

  2. Microsoft Cracks Down On Low Performers With New Exit Strategy: Check Details

    Microsoft has rolled out stricter internal policies to reinforce its performance management system, as outlined by Chief People Officer Amy Coleman in a recent internal email. The new guidelines aim to help managers address underperformance more decisively while rewarding high achievers more clearly.

  3. Microsoft introduces strict new policies for low performers, adds voluntary exit plan

    Microsoft is cracking down on those employees it considers to be low performers. The Redmond company has laid out new policies and tools in an internal email to managers, which include a ban on internal transfers for poor performers and a two-year rehiring block on those let go.

    In an internal email seen by Business Insider, Microsoft's new chief people officer Amy Coleman wrote about new and enhanced tools that would help accelerate high performance and swiftly address low performance.

    The email adds that the tools will help "foster a culture of accountability and growth." Employees who are not meeting expectations will be put on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), which are described as a new globally consistent approach to set clear expectations and a timeline for improvement.

  4. Microsoft Gets Tough On Low Performers: New Rules, No Rehire For 2 Years

    Microsoft is taking a harder stance on employee performance. In an internal email to managers, the company outlined stricter rules for dealing with underperformers, including a ban on internal transfers and a two-year rehire block for those consistently rated low. As reported by Business Insider, the move is part of a wider shift in the tech industry to prioritise efficiency and accountability after years of rapid hiring.

  5. Microsoft Implements Stricter Performance Policies, Including 2-Year Rehire Ban

    Microsoft managers received guidance last Friday outlining new, stricter company policies for handling employee performance, signaling a clear move towards increased accountability across the Redmond giant.

    An internal email from Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s recently appointed Chief People Officer with a long history at the company including prior experience developing performance management strategies, details several changes. These include a formalized process for managing underperformers involving a choice between an improvement plan or voluntary separation, alongside new restrictions preventing internal moves and implementing a two-year rehire ban for those exiting under these circumstances.

There will be more later today. Some of the above (the last one for sure) is Microsoft cheerleaders. This is new(s), but they obscure what's happening.

Get it?

This is the IBM modus operandi (and no, it is not limited to IBM, but we covered this a lot in relation to IBM).

Such IBM tactics were described as recently as a few hours ago, e.g. regarding headcount fallacies: "Start 2024 with 282k End 2024 with 270k Net = -12,000 (you know math and IBM’s actual announced facts)"

"OH by the way pay no attention to the 12,000 we laid off in early 2025 as it’s not in the data yet (they really don’t count since the LLM is only as good as the data that feeds it)"

"The fact is IBM is shrinking faster than they want to admit (over 4% in 2024) 2025 is on course to hit 8% (approx 21k)".

We countered/rebutted the "headcount" spin of both Microsoft and IBM in articles such as:

There's much more. To quote new comments about IBM (only hours old): "What they need to remember [...] Everyone is free to choose but not free from the consequences of their choices".

"Our department lost 15 people due to this," says the latest comment. "They wanted people to move at their expense. Maybe If Alvind Krabanaugh and Ice Cream Cohen and the other Pipmunks weren’t so greedy and took less shares their moving expenses could have been covered".

This is similar to what Microsoft is doing right now.

Microsoft is the "next IBM", and that is not a compliment at all!

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Red Hat QA Team "Had Shrunk by Half Over the Past Year." (After IBM Divestment)
If Red Hat's workforce is being moved to the East, then RHEL can become a national security problem
Preparations for Our 19th Anniversary Have Already Begun
When we get back we'll probably sort out some balloons and venue for the next party
Pleased After 2 Years With team.blue
Moving from a Content Management System (CMS, dynamic) to a Static Site Generator (SSG) was a wise decision that made life so much easier
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Being Attacked by Organisations Jealous of Its Principled Stance and Longevity
Nobody is perfect, but imperfection does not instantaneously imply sinister intent
 
Gemini Links 04/09/2025: Katrina Remembered, Distracted Driving, and Virtual Economics
Links for the day
At This Point It's No Longer Matthew Garrett But People Who Fund Matthew Garrett (or Companies That Fund His SLAPPs Against My Wife and I)
The only thing worse than misogynists are misogynists who fail to respect other people's right to go on holiday
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 03, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 03, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part VI - This Serious Harm Was Planned for Over a Decade, Not an Accident or Merely Some Misfortune
The term "Serious Harm" is legally meaningful here
GNOME Unfit for Diversity and Inclusion
GNOME's leadership is using "bad words"
Brodie Robertson Addressing the Recently-Discovered Comments
Most people probably knew nothing about this until he wrote a response
Slopwatch: "Open Source" and "Linux" News Faked, Made by Bots and Entered Into Google News
Spam combined with slop about "Linux" has entered Google News
Links 03/09/2025: Microsoft Causes Mass Layoffs Outside Microsoft Also, "Google Can Keep Paying for Firefox Search Deal"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/09/2025: calendar.txt, Alhena 5.3.1, and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
The Theory That the Man From McKinsey, Whom Red Hat Took From Microsoft a Month Ago as Executive, Wants 'Efficiency' (Lower Salaries)
So far... no "official" word
When Your Site's Articles Are Being 'Cheapened' by Slop as Feature Images
Dr. Farnell should become an advisor to The Register MS
Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops to Only Half a Dozen Capsules and 0.2% of the Whole in Geminispace, Self-Signed is the Way to Go
It used to have hundreds, according to Lupa
Doing to Red Hat What They Already Did (and Still Do) to IBM
there seems to be a drive to hire cheaper staff, and it may be led by somebody Red Hat hired from Microsoft
Links 03/09/2025: Salesforce's Latest Mass Layoffs, 93% in Large Poll at The Register MS Say UK Government Should Dump Microsoft
Links for the day
If You Reject the Google Verdict in the US, Then You Should Also Reject the "Modern" Web (Do Something About It)
Gemini Protocol is still open; it cannot be hijacked or subverted because it's frozen by design and by intention
Open Source Initiative IRS Filing: Almost All the Money is Corporate, Stefano Maffuli (Executive Director) Takes About a Quarter of That Money for Openwashing of "AI" Ponzi Scheme
OSI is currently little but a PR/marketing agency of Microsoft
Many People Are "Leaving" Red Hat, Even High-Level Managers
Something is definitely going on at Red Hat
Techrights Has Been Subjected to Calls of Violence (and Death Threats), It Never Condoned Violence
I have no sympathy for people who call violence "free speech" and then get in trouble
Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
"Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
"Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 02, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Links 02/09/2025: Oligarch Tech and Text Encoding Concerns in Ada
Links for the day
"Internal Changes at Red Hat / IBM"
It seems like quite a few people are leaving
Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
Now some reports in French
"People on LinkedIn Saying That They've Left Red Hat."
We already saw signs of it a month ago and named some of the people
Gone With the BRICs (or BRICS): "Linux 8" in Cuba
GAFAM must be worried
Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
Google's Chrome Passes 70% and Web Standards Are Dying
The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
India is Back to Windows 8 (Market Share Down to 8%) as Android Soars to a New Record High
For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and Ponzi Scheme, Bubble About to Burst Entirely, Admits Goldman Sachs
the hype that Google News and The Register MS actively participate and profit from
Links 02/09/2025: SCO Summit and Russia Suspected Of Jamming GPS
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: Mediterranean Marriage and Staying Connected at 35,000 Feet
Links for the day
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter