Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

Microsoft's most recent quarterly numbers, for those interested:

    - Revenue was $69.6 billion and increased 12%
    - Operating income was $31.7 billion and increased 17% (up 16% in constant currency)
    - Net income was $24.1 billion and increased 10%

How can you justify needing layoffs when you made $24B in net income on $70B in revenue?? I guess $24B and a 10% YoY increase is almost failing?

The answer is shareholders.

That's not good enough for a P/E of 40....

It is like we need to find a "post stock market" capitalism? The stock market is kind of the original crypto scheme after-all. Capitalism doesn't require a stock market.

I'm not going to defend Microsoft, but you don't budget based on current achievements. You budget on future prospects, and right now Microsoft is facing some tough times in Europe. The biggest IT expense in my country is the public sector buying various Microsoft licenses, and everyone from the top down are looking into replacing Microsoft with Open Source alternatives due to digital sovereignty.

I doubt that has a big impact on Microsoft's gaming divisions, but it would help explain why they might not think the previous decades of growth will continue.

Privately held companies exist too. They also do layoffs.

> You budget on future prospects, and right now Microsoft is facing some tough times in Europe. The biggest IT expense in my country is the public sector buying various Microsoft licenses, and everyone from the top down are looking into replacing Microsoft with Open Source alternatives due to digital sovereignty.

As they should: "Trump’s sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal’s work". [0] Bert Hubert has been writing on the subject as well. [1]

[0] https://apnews.com/article/icc-trump-sanctions-karim-khan-co...

[1] https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-european-cloud-ladder/

Certainly. I'd argue (and I have been) that we should have done these things a long time ago. I live in Denmark, we have a digital national ID called mitID. You can use it without the official app, but it's annoying, and similar to all other public apps (we have a social security card app, a drivers license app, a doctors app, an app for communicating with schools and daycares and so on) you need Google Play or Apple Store to use them. So even if you as a private citizen want to run a FairPhone with /e/OS then you can't do that and also run any public app.

Even without actual political interference, it's slightly annoying that we bind our public services into having a Google or Apple account.

> How can you justify needing layoffs when you made $24B in net income

Cut costs and make 25B next quarter! Cut more in US and hire in India. Make 27B in a quarter next year!