Microsoft's "Headcount" Distracts From How Big a Cull It Had This Month
It also speaks of numbers "[a]s of June 30" though the "buyouts" were effective July 1 and since then well over 10,000 workers have vanished
This month: Microsoft May Have Gotten Rid of 8% of Its Workforce This Month | Techrights Was Right: Microsoft's Layoffs Tally Was False, Far More People Are Being Sacked
When Microsoft speaks of "headcount", be wary. There are many ways to game those figures, including temps and contractors.
We wrote about this many times before, e.g. in:
- A Lot of Fake News About Microsoft Headcount (Also: Microsoft's Debt Rose by About 24 Billion Dollars in Past 12 Months)
- Hundreds of Microsoft Layoffs (Net Headcount Decrease) in the United Kingdom
- Microsoft Has Already Laid Off Tens of Thousands of Workers, "Headcount" is Misleading Spin From Microsoft-Funded Sites
- Microsoft Layoffs in 2024 Didn't Stop at the 'Official' Headcount of ~2,000, More Said to Come
- Microsoft's Latest Headcount Suggests Over 20,000 Laid Off Last Year (Net Loss)
- IBM and Microsoft Fake Headcount in Exactly the Same Way (While Mass Layoffs Persist and Real Revenue Falls, Not Just Compared to Inflation Rates)
- More Microsoft Cuts and Layoffs (Microsoft Media Mole Jordan Novet Tries to Float "Hiring Freezes" Spin After the "Headcount" Spin Failed)
Publishers go by the "official" figures, however, like this Bill Epsteingate-funded outlet, which says headcount fell by a lot more than what Microsoft told the media recently:
This serves to hide how big a cull happened. The more meaningful figure, which they will not disclosure or show, is a tally that includes ranks and salaries. If Microsoft does some "buyout" with a 30-year veteran and then hires some temporary bus driver for its campus, it'll seem like nothing has changed. █