The Human Side of Microsoft's Layoffs
As I write this on Wednesday night, I am thinking of Microsoft's 125,000 employees who are trying to go to sleep with the knowledge that tomorrow they or their colleagues may be FIRED.
I say FIRED because "layoff" is one of those words created to soften the ugly underbelly of reality. Microsoft employees are not factory workers being laid off for two weeks so that inventory levels can drop to an acceptable level. They are being FIRED, forever. They are human beings with spouses and kids and parents to support. They have mortgages, car loans, college loans, and many have too little saved for retirement.
Microsoft is a fine company, filled with many wonderful people. Just a few weeks ago, I gave a speech there and spent two days with some of the smartest and most talented people I've ever met. The company has a bright future, and I am in agreement with many of the things their new CEO is saying.
But, in the spirit of empathy and humanity, I have two wishes to offer tonight:
To Microsoft's FIRED employees... I urge you never, ever to give up. It's completely understandable if tomorrow night you go home and cry, scream, throw up, or break out in a cold sweat. Take the whole weekend and freak out, if it helps. But Monday morning, recognize that Microsoft's misjudgments are not your failure. You do not have the luxury or the right to let this corporate decree extinguish the light that burns inside of you.
You are not your job. You are special, and what you do in the days and weeks and months ahead will prove it. You will prove it.
To Microsoft's top management... I hope you never, ever do this again - anywhere, or anytime. I understand that sometimes companies have to shrink in order to survive. But Microsoft's survival is not at stake, only its profits. While I have no idea whether you are going to FIRE 100 people or 5,000 tomorrow, I suspect that few if any of them had any hand in the decision to grow Microsoft as big as it has become.
It's one thing to fire an employee for being lazy or incompetent. It's quite another to FIRE an employee because management and investors want to make even more money.
For all involved, I hope that you learn from this experience, and that you succeed despite it.
Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs and executives. Learn more at Kasanoff.com. He is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk.
Image: Robert Scoble/Flickr
Technical Manager at goPuff
8yI've been through numerous layoffs during the dot-com bust, and one firing (a mistake where I was rehired four hours later, but that's another story). I can tell you from this experience that a layoff is actually better than being fired. A layoff says "the company did something wrong and has to pay for it" where a firing says "YOU did something wrong and have to pay for it." Layoffs are impersonal; getting fired is very personal. Finally, on a much more practical level, getting laid off means you qualify for unemployment benefits while you find your next job. People who are fired don't get that important cushion!
Medical Office Coordinator at Core Physicians, LLC
8yI feel like I missed out by not catching this when it originally came out. Increasing profitability is a very poor reason for all these people to lose their jobs. Since this is repeat reaction, I very much doubt that the corporation has learned anything. That social responsibility that is making more people want to know who makes their goods (no sweatshop labor) is the same kind of thing that can foster a decrease is this awful way of rebalancing the books.
Marketing and Partnerships Manager, former broadcaster, leader
8yTremendous job on this!
Director at Marcus Evans, Inc- Transforming Connections, Amplifying Successes
8yLOVE THIS! Great article thanks