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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[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 182 points 4 weeks ago
[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 97 points 4 weeks 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 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Also that CEO has an eminently punchable face.

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[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 97 points 4 weeks ago (11 children)

That’s roughly 30k for every employee laid off

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 32 points 4 weeks ago

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

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 17 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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

[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 8 points 4 weeks ago

So the CEO gets less than half their salary for the year?

Sounds like a great deal for the company. Until, you know, the whole thing collapses because they laid off the workers who kept the whole thing running

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[–] RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee 77 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Headline confused "despite" and "due to"

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[–] ysjet@lemmy.world 67 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

He made $12000 off each fired employee.

[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 44 points 4 weeks ago

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

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 57 points 4 weeks ago (11 children)

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

[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 12 points 4 weeks ago

70% workload raise

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[–] interurbain1er@sh.itjust.works 54 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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 19 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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 48 points 4 weeks ago

Because of layoffs, not despite them.

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 37 points 4 weeks 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 4 weeks ago (3 children)

That's why Mitbestimmungsgesetz can be goddamn fucking awesome.

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[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 33 points 4 weeks 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 4 weeks 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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[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 32 points 4 weeks ago
[–] 01011@monero.town 30 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

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

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 20 points 4 weeks 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 weeks ago

Never heard that. Regardless, i love it.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 26 points 4 weeks ago

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

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 23 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] AshMan85@lemmy.world 22 points 4 weeks ago

Regulate monopolies. Eat the rich.

[–] card797@champserver.net 21 points 4 weeks ago

They should be paying 90% tax over 1 million.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 21 points 4 weeks ago

CEO = SIC: Shareholder in Chief

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 19 points 4 weeks ago

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

[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 18 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

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

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[–] independantiste@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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 weeks 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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[–] Ragdoll_X@lemmy.world 16 points 4 weeks 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]

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 14 points 4 weeks ago

Pretty standard issue corporate psychopath.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 14 points 4 weeks 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

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 13 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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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[–] zante@slrpnk.net 10 points 4 weeks ago

I just want one outlet to break the shit cycle and report it for what it is : CEO got big pay rises thanks to savings made by eliminating jobs.

That is simply the neutral truth.

It’s not some freakish occurance, not some overtime golden goal shit, this is how it works. It’s the norm.

[–] bamfic@lemmy.world 10 points 4 weeks ago

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

[–] Imhotep@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

his payrise is equivalent to something like 3000 US workers minimum wage annual salaries

if my math is correct (which it probably isn't)

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[–] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 8 points 4 weeks 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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[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago

Thinking of all the cool products this CEO has killed off. I would love to see this company split up so that maybe they could innovate again.

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