Short term gains.
They think they can treat people like shit and then just re-hire when they need then again.
I hope people learn not to trust them, customers and employees alike
Comment on After laying off 9,000 employees , Microsoft records $27.2 billion profit in latest quarter
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Does anyone know why they played off that many?
It seems like a weird move
Psaldorn@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
from a gamedev perspective - they overinvested in studios, which are only pumping major returns into their coffers, but not anticipated AI returns so, cut the teams. and cut the teams some more.
then cut the teams a bit more. 9000 layoffs ya know.
well, maybe, then hire a bunch because maybe you cut too far?
nah, cut some more. oblivion remastered only made an absolute shitton.
it’s a move that’s making any dev looking to work with MS/Xbox really wary because it seems that they want their IP a lot more than their studios.
JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They massively over-hired and over-acquired during covid. Demand spiked and they started poaching every studio and developer they could find. These layoffs were likely always the plan for when demand dropped again, and when they needed to streamline and consolidate the studios they purchased.
skisnow@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Up til about ten years ago, doing mass layoffs was seen as a sign of company in trouble; it scared shareholders and it made talent less likely to apply to your company.
Then enough of them did it often enough that the stigma fell away and it became a thing you did to get rid of underperformers, scare people into working harder, and separate the wheat from the chaff. Now it’s so commonplace that I’ve heard execs talk about it like it’s just what you’re supposed to do as part of good governance.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
really good point.