Seattle P-I Blog post
Analyst: Microsoft likely to cut 6-8 percent of staff
In a report issued this morning, analyst Sid Parakh of Seattle's McAdams Wright Ragen forecasts that Microsoft is likely to cut between 6 percent and 8 percent of its work force.
From his report:
Checks indicate that Microsoft is likely to engage in headcount reductions to the tune of 6,000 – 8,000 employees or ~6% - 8% of its ~95,000 workforce, a number much lower than cited in the media. A notable portion of those cuts are likely to be in the Seattle area considering that over 40,000 of its employees are in this region. Our checks also revealed some speculation over the potential for a second round of cuts in some groups sometime later in the year, although this could not be substantiated.
I asked Parakh what he meant by "checks."
This is what he said in an e-mail:
Checks refer to conversations with employees as well as people associated with the company. As for the 6,000-8,000 number, there is no way to tell whether that is going to be exactly the type of reduction MSFT may eventually undertake. That is the best estimate at this point.
Upcoming layoffs have been rumored at Microsoft since late December.
Two blogs had reported that the company was preparing to lay off between 10 percent and 17 percent of its workers.
In response to those reports, several analysts encouraged the company to cut its work force, saying layoffs would help the company's stock, which is at a 10-year-low, and help offset a possible drop in sales.
Microsoft reports its second-quarter earnings next week.
It is unclear how the global economic slowdown will affect the company's results, although analysts expect the company to report results below the reduced expectations the company set for itself in October.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Microsoft executives declined to comment on the possibility of layoffs.
Asked about the company's hiring plans, Robbie Bach, the president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, had said, "That will play itself out."
"The thing for people to understand is like every company in the current economy we're looking at how we apply our resources, where we apply them."
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THE MicroSoft Windows Thread (merged)
Re: Microsoft Job Cuts Rumored
by octopus » Thu 15 Jan 2009, 21:03:16
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Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by bratticus » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 09:39:07
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Security Alert: Is Conflicker our digital Pearl Harbor?
Kenneth E. Lamb • Reader Submitted • January 25, 2009
It's called Conflicker by most of the world, and Downadup by the rest. Either way, it is a "worm" type of attack that exploits a security flaw that Microsoft fixed in its Security Updates in October. The problem is, nearly one-third of all computers on Earth have failed to download the fix, and are still vulnerable to the attack. Yours could be one of them.
If you get infected, experts tell us that your computer will be commanded in the near future to join in a world-wide attack involving illegal financial transactions, among other possibilities. They believe it will steal your passwords and financial institutions ID and then use them to empty your accounts.
... skip ... One intriguing clue left by the malware authors is that the first version of the program checked to see if the computer had a Ukrainian keyboard layout. If it found it had such a keyboard, it would not infect the machine, according to Phillip Porras, a security investigator at SRI International who has disassembled the program to determine how it functioned.
... snip ...
Kenneth E. Lamb • Reader Submitted • January 25, 2009
It's called Conflicker by most of the world, and Downadup by the rest. Either way, it is a "worm" type of attack that exploits a security flaw that Microsoft fixed in its Security Updates in October. The problem is, nearly one-third of all computers on Earth have failed to download the fix, and are still vulnerable to the attack. Yours could be one of them.
If you get infected, experts tell us that your computer will be commanded in the near future to join in a world-wide attack involving illegal financial transactions, among other possibilities. They believe it will steal your passwords and financial institutions ID and then use them to empty your accounts.
... skip ... One intriguing clue left by the malware authors is that the first version of the program checked to see if the computer had a Ukrainian keyboard layout. If it found it had such a keyboard, it would not infect the machine, according to Phillip Porras, a security investigator at SRI International who has disassembled the program to determine how it functioned.
... snip ...
Merged with THE Microsoft Windows Thread.-FL
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Re: Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by jasonraymondson » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 10:22:51
This virus was pretty much dead on arrival. The code was not quite right. They screwed up.
The guy is obviously just a fear mongerer.
The guy is obviously just a fear mongerer.
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Re: Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by bratticus » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 11:24:39
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', 'T')his virus was pretty much dead on arrival. The code was not quite right. They screwed up.
The guy is obviously just a fear mongerer.
The guy is obviously just a fear mongerer.
Huh? What about the stories of 15 million infected PeeCees?
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Re: Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by vision-master » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 11:27:41
You geeky kids need to get a life.
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Re: Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by davep » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 11:43:44
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'Y')ou geeky kids need to get a life.
I get paid for being a geek!
What we think, we become.
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Re: Microsoft Windows to Host Future Financial Attack?
by Arsenal » Tue 27 Jan 2009, 11:44:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'Y')ou geeky kids need to get a life.
I get paid for being a geek! Me too.. And quite a bit at that!
If the American people ever allow the banks to control issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied. T Jefferson
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