this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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2024 has seen two mass layoffs at Microsoft, with 1900 staff laid off in January, before a further 650 Xbox employees were shown the door in September.

Regardless, Microsoft's shares are up and the company's market value is now higher than $3tn, as it works to capitalise on the rise of AI.

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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 96 points 5 days ago (13 children)

When I entered the work force in 2005, it was with a company that had never had a layoff in its thirty-year history.

Then, in 2009, they had their first layoff, and I learned later our CEO had taken an 80% pay raise that year.

Taxes aren't theft. Literally firing people and taking their salaries is theft.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 32 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Also that CEO has an eminently punchable face.

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

tautological

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[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 181 points 5 days ago
[–] interurbain1er@sh.itjust.works 53 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

In case you missed it, in our broken model of civilization a CEO's only responsibility is to increase value for shareholders. Not to clients, not to employees, not to the biosphere.

Market cap increased, job's done successfully.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 18 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

A) 1971, Economist Milton Friedman explicitly told the world the "only social responsibility" for businesses is to increase shareholder value. The Business Roundtable heartily endorsed this view, setting the stage for the next half century of villains to gleefully enrich themselves without compunction.

B) 2019, Business Roundtable reversed their 50 year position to include that businesses should be beholden to all Stakeholders, not just shareholders.

But of course the damage has been done, and continues onward. To compound this, the FED's open-purse monetary policy for 14 YEARS ushered in the worst inflation in 40 years, while wages have stagnated for 4 decades, kicking off around the time Baby Boomers were birthing the first Millennial children.

These are just some of the reasons Millennials lay the bulk of culpability at the feet of Baby Boomers, who of course respond with something like: "Well, I don't remember that."

[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 47 points 5 days ago

Because of layoffs, not despite them.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 98 points 5 days ago (11 children)

That’s roughly 30k for every employee laid off

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 33 points 5 days ago

Sounds like an easy sell to the board, then. It it's that much of a net positive in economics.

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 16 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

If they were software engineers, they saved $200,000+ per person laid off

That's how he makes dem big bux, by telling other people to fuck off

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[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 25 points 4 days ago

I think the author got confused, it's not despite off it's because of.

[–] ysjet@lemmy.world 67 points 5 days ago (1 children)

He made $12000 off each fired employee.

[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 44 points 5 days ago

Per year. And lets not talk about his stock options and other benefits... Fucking disgusting.

[–] RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee 77 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Headline confused "despite" and "due to"

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[–] 01011@monero.town 30 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Trickle down economics - when the 1% tinkle on the remainder.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 20 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Trickle down was a rebrand.

It used to be called "Horse and Sparrow economics."

Idea being: The horses eat buckets of whole grains. And the sparrows pick their meal from the horseshit.

[–] Breezy@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Never heard that. Regardless, i love it.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 57 points 5 days ago (11 children)

When was the last time you got a 63% raise?

[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

70% workload raise

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[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 32 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Typical and most people in the US view CEO's as heroes. US income distribution is on the same level as fucking Russia.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago (3 children)

As someone from fucking Russia, people with biggest income in your country are usually first businessmen, second - something else, while in Russia those would be cockroaches from MFA, PA and other thieves, plus a few oligarchs who at some point were among those cockroaches.

So it may not be as bad yet, but frankly yes, you are giving out vibes of going in the same direction.

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[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 37 points 5 days ago (3 children)

The board doesn’t care about the number of people employed. They care about the current profitability and future profitability.

Of course that’s their job; to look after shareholder interests. And the money would move to a better investment if they didn’t.

It’s the whole system you need to change, if you seek change, not moan about an individual CEO.

[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 18 points 5 days ago (3 children)

That's why Mitbestimmungsgesetz can be goddamn fucking awesome.

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[–] card797@champserver.net 21 points 5 days ago

They should be paying 90% tax over 1 million.

This is why every profession, blue or white collar, needs to unionize.

[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 31 points 5 days ago
[–] independantiste@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

The entire point of AI as it stands right now is to allow more of those layoffs. Anyone telling otherwise is a liar.

Also I hate how currently, AI is used to remove the fun parts of creating things at a computer. Take coding for example, I think I can speak for many people when I say that the fun part of their job, is not the planning or the meetings, it's the actual coding and stumbling upon a hard problem to solve. Now with AI you the human will only keep the boring parts of the job!

[–] Nalivai@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Don't overestimate LLMs, it can't code and never will be. It can create templates convincingly enough and do boilerplate parts that are nonsense only sometimes, but those aren't the fun parts of the coding process anyway. In my experience, LLM isn't helping at all and I spend more time fixing it's nonsense than I would do if I don't use it at all, so I don't

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[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago

CEO = SIC: Shareholder in Chief

[–] AshMan85@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago

Regulate monopolies. Eat the rich.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)
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[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Thank god, all these employees lost their jobs so Satya Nadella can pad out their already insanely high salary.

We don't want Satya to starve like the rest us of plebs!

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago

Pretty standard issue corporate psychopath.

[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 18 points 5 days ago (2 children)

His salary increase must be inversely proportional to the quality increase in Windows 11.

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[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago

Well, yeah. How do you think they could afford Nadella's pay raise?

[–] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

He's doing what the Board wants, stock price is up. If there was a worker advocate on the board, maybe things would be different.

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[–] Ragdoll_X@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

I would like to propose some changes to that title:

Microsoft CEO's pay rises 63% to $79m, ~~despite~~ [because of] devastating year for layoffs: 2550 ~~jobs lost~~ [employees were fired by their greedy CEO] in 2024 [because he wanted more money]

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

CEOs gonna CEO.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago

fuck him not just for making those people's lives miserable, but for stamping down the fucking wages of everyone else in tech by flooding the fucking market

[–] bamfic@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

An old friend was one of the people who got laid off in January. Fuck MSFT.

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