Rather like oil and gas companies, which have been the easy target until recently, you have to remember that Microsoft's massive profits come from millions and millions of small transactions. It's easy to say "they should knock $1 off the price!" or "they should keep these people employed because they make money" but that profit can be gone in a heartbeat if you lose $1 off the price of millions of sales.
In this instance, I think the beancounters have made a mistake - or, more likely, have been told to trim around the edges rather than hit what is seen as the core of the company. MS can shed jobs in entertainment titles, but if they were seen to be sacking people in XBox, OS or Office development, their share price would tank immediately.
The company I work for is one of those big monoliths that like to stick their finger into every pie on the planet and, until very recently, they were raking in nice profits from property management and design. The floor has now dropped out of that and we - as a steady income, long term projects, part of the business, are being expected to carry them. When job losses come, they won't only be in the property arms, they'll come across the board. So which way is better - hitting a sector that management want to get out of anyway (they make no secret of wanting the XBox to be the centre of your every day life, replacing your PC, TV, radio and everything else) or cutting jobs across the board at a later date, like our lot will?
In this instance, I think the beancounters have made a mistake - or, more likely, have been told to trim around the edges rather than hit what is seen as the core of the company. MS can shed jobs in entertainment titles, but if they were seen to be sacking people in XBox, OS or Office development, their share price would tank immediately.
The company I work for is one of those big monoliths that like to stick their finger into every pie on the planet and, until very recently, they were raking in nice profits from property management and design. The floor has now dropped out of that and we - as a steady income, long term projects, part of the business, are being expected to carry them. When job losses come, they won't only be in the property arms, they'll come across the board. So which way is better - hitting a sector that management want to get out of anyway (they make no secret of wanting the XBox to be the centre of your every day life, replacing your PC, TV, radio and everything else) or cutting jobs across the board at a later date, like our lot will?