MICROSOFT IS having a hard time for reasons that SJVN put very succinctly in his latest post about Ballmer and Gates. This post has made some waves but not as many waves as the claim that an ex-exec of Microsoft says Microsoft should cut 30,000-40,000 employees (mini-Microsoft suggested just about the same). That's a lot less than the 50,000 who Cringely suggested laying off last year (it is rumoured that Microsoft is still laying off quietly these days, not just moving existing jobs to Asia).

As for the headcount issue, our source says there's probably 30,000 to 40,000 more employees than needed at Microsoft. There's a lot of overlapping roles, and employees at the company are focused on solving internal issues, rather than fighting external competitors.

Ex-exec says Microsoft should cut up to 40,000 jobs

A former Microsoft executive today argued that Microsoft could easily cut 30,000 to 40,000 employees. The unnamed worker claimed that CEO Steve Ballmer organizes every division identically. While it keeps the company simple, it also creates unnecessary overhead and isn't as effective as it could be, the executive told SAI.