Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Future of Computing is Mobility and Microsoft Cannot Do Anything But Patent Extortion Against Android/Linux, So More Massive Layoffs Are Announced by Microsoft

Summary: Microsoft officially announces yet another massive round of layoffs, but it spins/denies the cause and misleads about the effects

"It’s a criminal gang bent on stifling competition any way it can," wrote Robert Pogson about Microsoft, which has caused layoffs in many companies over the years (many of these companies went completely out of business). "In this case it was “Embrace, Extend, Extinguish” to control Nokia rather than letting Nokia go with */Linux."



Pogson's comments are correct and they help highlight the reason why Microsoft layoffs are always good news. They help secure the jobs of many outside of Microsoft -- jobs that actually are ethical and involve workers who obey the law. Microsoft has a long history of using criminal activity to drive companies out of business (layoffs). Now it does it to a nation (Finland) because of Nokia. Whenever considering why Microsoft is bullying Linux and Android (not just with patents and FUD but also with moles) think about Microsoft layoffs and what they really mean. It's aggression from a cornered bully. Ethics have been thrown out the door.

Microsoft calls the latest layoffs "Restructuring". Funny that "Restructuring" can involve nearly 8,000 people without a job... that instantaneously redefines the word Restructuring".

Well, Microsoft is still extorting Linux using patents because it worries about the present and future that is Windows-free, not free Windows. According to media that spoke to manufacturers, Vista 10 won't improve computer sales (i.e. Vista 10 will fail) and Pogson decided that "GNU/Linux works fine for them." Yes, therein lies Microsoft's biggest headache. It's not Apple that is hurting Microsoft but Linux. The developers have moved away from Windows and Microsoft now virtually begs them to come back. Well, the boat has sailed away and it ain't coming back...

"Elop the mole was allegedly (Microsoft's narrative) forced out after he had destroyed Nokia (Nokia became a Microsoft-centric patent troll) and pocketed a massive bonus from Microsoft for it."Almost all of our readers must have heard by now about additional Microsoft layoffs, even if Microsoft manipulated the media into belittling the impact and distorting the facts. "Finding any good news in this announcement is a very difficult task," wrote Adam Hartung, but some people really did try.

I heard about this from an insider a while ago, but it wasn't anything official until Wednesday. The latest big rounds of layoffs were mentioned in much of the corporate media. It's nearly another 10% of the company that's being eliminated. "One year after announcing a massive round of job cuts impacting 18,000 employees," wrote USA Today, "Microsoft is wielding the ax again."

"In a statement released Wednesday, Microsoft said it will slash up to 7,800 additional jobs. Most of the cuts are connected to the company's phone business."

Well, that's what Microsoft says. The latest (not last) time it announced nearly 20,000 layoffs it misled the media by trying to paint it as a 'Nokia thing', as it had done before (Microsoft is always trying to downplay the severity of its layoffs by diverting attention).

Elop the mole was allegedly (Microsoft's narrative) forced out after he had destroyed Nokia (Nokia became a Microsoft-centric patent troll) and pocketed a massive bonus from Microsoft for it.

Microsoft boosters attempt to distract from the layoffs over at IDG and other networks, putting a positive spin on it. They're not alone because they have already misled others (non boosters) into repetition of this spin. We need to counter it.

So basically, another huge proportion of Microsoft staff is to be laid off. That's the real news. Microsoft spin says it's "mobile" layoffs; this is mostly untrue, but they try to belittle the impact, as they always do. Here is how Gizmodo put it:

Near the end of his 14-year-long run, Microsoft’s head honcho, Steve Ballmer, did a pretty bad, not-so-great thing and bought Nokia’s phone business. We know this because Microsoft just admitted it by writing off that entire $7 billion purchase and laying off 7,800 people, most of whom work directly on Microsoft phones.


We have seen one journalist claiming to be trying to find good news in this whole Microsoft layoffs thing. Why? A spin campaign surely has begun in the media, probably well coordinated by Microsoft's unethical (peripheral) PR agencies. They try to sweeten layoffs, using slogans/motto like "lean". This is marketing nonsense. Staff of Microsoft is being shuffled and has moved into smaller/shared offices (based on our sources). This has been going on for a while now. Microsoft layoffs are not much to do with Nokia as people from inside the company reveal the layoffs to be far more wide-reaching. Microsoft doesn't want to publicly speak about this.

The Nadella transition is more of a preparation for demise. The demise of Windows will result in many Microsoft operations (Exchange, 'security', probably Office too) coming to complete shutdown or gradual demise. Microsoft is understands that, so it is so unbelievably desperate to keep Windows (or Vista 10) a common carrier. Microsoft is willing to even lie repeatedly about Vista 10's cost, about Windows' value, etc. we gave many examples as even Microsoft itself later refutes its own lies (once challenged).

If an article you see about Microsoft layoffs says "Nokia", "writeoff" (AOL is framing layoffs as “Writedown”), or "Nadella", then you are almost definitely reading shallow spin, or something more like PR or 'damage control'. We can still vividly remember all the Novell spin that management/PR was coming up with every time Novell announced shrinkage.

Recent Techrights' Posts

What Will Happen to GAFAM After the US Defaults Rather Than Bails Out the Market?
Or tries to topple every government that doesn't play by its rules?
EPO People Power - Part XXXIV - Bad Optics for the European Union (for Failing to Act and Tolerating Cocaine Use in Europe's Second-Largest Institution)
There are principles in laws which tie awareness with complicity
Shobhit Varshney From IBM Pushing Slop at Large Bank, Another McDonald's Waiting to Happen?
How long can they get away with phony narratives like "replaced by AI"?
 
The Goal is Software Freedom for All
Anything to do with "Linux Foundation" is timewasting
Reminder That Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Is Not Free, And It's Because of IBM
software freedom just 'gets in the way'
Under IBM, in Order to Game the Stock Market, Red Hat Resorted to Boosting the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in Human History
This is what IBM turned Red Hat into
Revision handed Microsoft the keys to the distortion of the past/history
This isn't the first time The Register MS rewrites computing history in Microsoft's favour, as we pointed out several times in past years
EPO's Central Staff Committee is Now Redacting (Self-Censoring) Due to Threats From the EPO "Mafia"
"On the agenda: salary adjustment procedure for 2025 (as of January 2026)"
"AI" (Slop) 'Demand' Isn't Growing, It's Fake, It's a Pyramid Scheme
They try to resort to 'creative' accounting (fraudulent schemes like circular financing)
Difficult Times at IBM and Microsoft Ahead of Mass Layoffs (Probably Before This Month's Results Unless Postponed to 'Prove' Rumours 'Wrong')
IBM and Microsoft used to be tech giants. Nowadays they mostly pretend by pumping up their stock and buying back their own shares.
Canonical: Make Ubuntu Bloated (Debian With Snaps), Then Sell the 'Debloated' Version for a Fee
If people want a light distro, then they ought not pay Canonical but instead choose a light (by design) GNU/Linux distro
People Don't Want "Just Enough", They'll Look for Quality
That's why slopfarms will go away or become inactive
Gemini Links 14/01/2026: 3D and Tiny Traffic Lights Pack
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 13, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Slop Waning Whilst Originals Perish
Slop is way past its "prime"
XBox's 'Major Nelson' Loses His Job Again, This Time in a Microsoft Mono Pusher
Microsoft hasn't much of a future in gaming. XBox's business is in rapid decline and people who push Mono to game developers are the same
Links 13/01/2026: Russia Weaponises Weather Against Civilians, Beijing-Controlled HK Attacks Legal Team of Besieged Critics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: Loss of Desire to Produce, Individual Consumption
Links for the day
Links 13/01/2026: Ubisoft Layoffs, "India IT In Shambles", and Microsoft Chatbot Killing People
Links for the day
IBM is Not a Leftist Company, the "I" Stands for Imperialism, and Poo Floats to the Top
Remember that AK is military from both sides of his family
Links 13/01/2026: More Mass Layoffs in GAFAM, Catching Up With Political News of Early January
Links for the day
Freedom of Speech in the UK (or Freedom of the Press/Expression) and Protection From Adversaries
undressing people without consent and in very bad taste is not "speech"
Ending the Status Quo at the European Patent Office (EPO) This Year
Things will continue to get worse as long as the "Digital Majority" stays silent and/or passive
Greenland Ought to Move to GNU/Linux, Not Apple
GNU/Linux at 4%
So When Will British Politicians, Police, Government Departments Quit Twitter (X.com)?
They sure bring constituents there (by being there)
If You Care About Freedom, Don't Follow IBM Red Hat (Like Microsoft Novell 20 Years Ago)
IBM Red Hat and Microsoft don't seem to compete
IBM Red Hat Does Not Compete With Microsoft, It's a Microsoft Reseller
even if employees of Red Hat dislike and distrust Microsoft
Red Hat Layoffs, Even of "AI" Staff in India
This is how companies die
LLM Slop Isn't Replacing Online News, It's Just a Pest That's Gradually Going Away as Money for Slop Runs Out
Slop likes to talk about itself (like some kind of 'web-cancer')
Not Journalism: Almost 80% of the 'Articles' We Saw About Torvalds and 'Vibe Coding' Are LLM Slop (Sometimes Slop Images)
The real issue is, Torvalds who created Git as a solution to proprietary prison is entertaining Microsoft's own proprietary prison
EPO People Power - Part XXXIII - Interest From Some European Media, For a Change
Without it, we'll become another Russian Federation
Just Another Reminder That Microsoft Didn't Deny Mass Layoffs
Remember that Microsoft never denied this
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Réunion This Year
Population sizes like a million people are nothing to sneeze at
Dr. Andy Farnell on Marketing Bad Things Like Slop Using FOMO (Fear of "Being Left Behind")
many of the same themes we often cover here
IBM Stock Compared to Bitcoin, Fake Articles About IBM Promote Myths About IBM
The stock moves based on false marketing
Bluewashing Continues, Red Hat Onboarding Interns in Low-Paid Regions
It's the end of the second Monday of 2026
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 12, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: ScottoRang and Outage
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Exceeding 6% in Cape Verde
Windows is measured as down sharply
When It Comes to Health, Slop is a Flop and It Kills People
Chatbots will mostly die after many people die due to them
2026 Has Begun Well for GNU/Linux Users (and for Us)
A lot of the anti-Linux FUD we got accustomed to seeing some years ago became scarce
Links 12/01/2026: Vista 11 Exodus and Famicom/NES Game
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Twitter (X) Being Blocked in More Countries, PTAB Besieged by Cheeto Appointees (Bad Patents Getting Through)
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Brussels Plotting Exit From GAFAM (US), Carole Cadwalladr Explains "Peter Thiel's New Model Army"
Links for the day
Oligarchs and States Always Attempted to Obstruct Efforts to Expose Their Corruption
We commend the administrator who consistently and adamantly defend the freedom of speech
Scheduled Maintenance Between 15th of January and Days to Follow, Free Software Foundation (FSF) Looking to Add 43 More Members by 16th of January
People who value Software Freedom should consider joining to support the FSF
Bracing for Microsoft Layoffs, Tired of Microsoft Lies, Microsoft Staff Wants Transparency, Not Face-Saving Coverup From Frank Shaw
totally made up stock price
GNU/Linux Estimated at Around 5% in Montserrat
another country where the "share" of GNU/Linux is now measured at 5%
GNU/Linux Exceeding 5% in Guadeloupe According to statCounter
GNU/Linux "share" estimates in Guadeloupe
Dr. Richard Stallman @ Georgia Tech Next Week
More Than One Week From Now
EPO People Power - Part XXXII - Little Hope That European Press Will Attempt to Expose Drug Abuse in Europe's Second-Largest Organisation
What does this tell us about the press in Europe?
Three most controversial Australian authors linked to St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 11/01/2026: Data Breaches and Recent (Early 2026) Political Developments
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/01/2026: Insomniacs After School and Boycotting Amazon
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 11, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 11, 2026
Brett Wilson LLP 'Dropping' the LLP, Is This Rebranding?
It's not a coincidence or a glitch, there was a formal change somewhere in the system
Can IBM Still Control the Narrative?
We'll see what comes out through the grapevine later this week