Microsoft is making a highly publicized move to shed around 18,000 jobs and already labor groups and analysts, as well as employees, are criticizing Microsoft's plan to overhaul the company.
Prior to the layoffs, which could take a year to finalize, the company bought mobile phone giant Nokia to boost its sales in mobile technology. The company's strategy is to invest more in its Windows 8 and Windows Phone operations while maintaining a core productivity model. Their devices have not been as popular as Android and iOS.
Many analysts, including former Microsoft employees, say the lengthy layoff process will harm morale, as employees fear the unpredictable. The anxiety could create instability and random poor performance among short- and long-term employees at Microsoft, critics claim.
It's not just employees of the "old" Microsoft that will go, either. The company reportedly plans to possibly ax at least 1,000 positions at Nokia, the brand that Microsoft is banking on to boost mobile growth for the company.
A prominent blogger known as "Mini-Microsoft" said the layoffs should be implemented better to avoid the morale-crushing effects of a year-long layoff procedure.
"When was it over? When was the 'all clear' signal given? So if this truly drags on for a year: we need a new leader. This needs to be wrapped up by the end of July 2014," he stated.
The situation at Microsoft is both unsettling and confusing. For example, if Microsoft acquired Nokia to better implement and consolidate its strategy for the mobile environment, then why cut so many positions from its ranks? Others suggest Nokia could eventually be sold to Lenovo.
Also, it remains to be seen where the alleged savings from all these cuts will go to grow the Microsoft franchise. Microsoft's stock is up 25 percent since Satya Nadella took over as CEO of the company. Nadella wants the company to be less management intensive and more agile. The company filed documents with Securities Exchange Commission to begin layoffs that will be complete by next June.
Most layoffs, 13,000 at least, are reportedly scheduled to begin as early as this week. The remaining approximately 5,000 positions will be cut over the next six months, according to reports.
Microsoft's cloud business is growing, but the company faces extreme competition on the international front.
Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia included 25,000 employees, but the company will shrink that number in factory and professional settings alike. It also will cut its own engineering staff and other areas of the company in an attempt to cut costs, appease investors and move ahead with a new "mobile-first and cloud-first" strategy.
