For the first time in its 34-year history, Microsoft Corp. plans to lay off up to 5,000 employees, about 5 percent of its workforce.
The move by the software giant highlights the depth of the economic crisis. Even in 2001, after the burst of the dot-com bubble, Microsoft did not lay off employees on a large scale.
Above all, the layoffs show the bosses will let nothing get between them and their profits, including the workers’ livelihoods. Microsoft raked in over $17 billion in profits in FY 2008, and its latest quarterly report boasts profits of $4.17 billion. The company is profitable—just not profitable enough.
Immigrant families may be especially affected, losing immigration status as a consequence of targeted layoffs. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley from Iowa is already playing on anti-immigrant sentiments to divide workers, calling on Microsoft to favor “qualified American workers” over foreign ones. Workers must reject these divisive wedges and stand together against the mass layoffs.
