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points by swiftcoder 3 days ago | 0 comments

There's no way 25% of their total employee base are "checked out". Yes, a bunch of folks close to retirement or fed up with working there will take the deal. But with the job market as it is, a whole lot will roll the dice on keeping their job through the inevitable follow-up round of layoffs.

This is just an optics-friendly way to soften the blow of 25% layoffs.

[–] noident 3 days ago

In my experience it's more the case that 70% of employees are checked out

[–] warmedcookie 3 days ago

This is my experience too, although probably not checked out enough to take a voluntary severance. Most people just want to chill and work at a steady pace. That kind of work ethic is fine for most industries, but not tech companies unfortunately.

[–] compiler-guy 3 days ago

It is much better than optics friendly, because it gives the affected people a chance to determine their own destiny.

Layoffs absolutely suck, and there is likely more pain on the way, but if the alternatives are voluntary buyouts + layoffs vs plain layoffs, the first is much better.

[–] surajrmal 2 days ago

These layoffs are to give folks who want to leave the chance to leave. Many people are unhappy after layoffs because they would have happily given been laid off if it meant saving one of their colleagues. I honestly think it's not in Microsoft's interest to offer it given the fact they'll on average lose higher quality employees. We should really be celebrating it to encourage them to keep up the practice and others to adopt it.