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It's all Obama's fault!!!

Wasn't Microsoft just complaining they can't find enough STEM workers?

New Renter says

Microsoft just complaining they can't find enough STEM workers?

They'd been complaining, long before anyone else.

The only good thing is that they've parred the workdays from 12-13 hours, down to 9-11.

I hadn't known a single person, who'd enjoyed working there. At least in some engineering/science postdocs, ppl actually work on something intellectually exciting for 10-14 hours. At MS, it's just being Ballmer's b*tch.

Given the lackluster MBA-ology speech of the new CEO, I'm predicting that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Maybe MS has run out of steam? How many ways can you reinvent the wheel? (Windows) Linux based systems becoming dominate in server world and most consumer type devices. (MS hasn't done well there either)

Economy's growing!

Soon all the laid off Microsoft Workers will be competing with Ex-Taxi drivers to be Uber providers.

Whoever came up with Windows 8 needs to be fired.

Won't they need these workers to implement another gratuitous UI change to Office? How about moving the Sleep|Shutdown|Restart menu from the Power button (buried in the Windows 8 Charms Bar) and entombing it even deeper in a Family Safety menu within a Hardware Settings folder within Control Panel?

So to shut down, it can be Charms Bar -> Control Panel -> Family Safety -> Desktop -> Security -> Power Options -> Shut Down.

Or won't someone be necessary to erase the latest set of keyboard shortcuts for SQL Server and replace them with worse ones?

"Charms Bar"

Sounds like a place 13-year old girls pick up accessories, like Claire's Boutique.

lostand confused says

Whoever came up with Windows 8 needs to be fired.

Amazing.

I used to think that Vista was the champion of awful, being the disaster that made everyone forget about Windows ME.

But now Windows 8 has erased Vista. It even gets worse with age: it has taken me a year to appreciate how awful Windows 8 is.

If Microsoft ever makes a product that doesn't suck, it will be a vacuum cleaner.

THIS CAN ONLY BE BULLISH FOR BAY AREA HOUSING!!!!1

lostand confused says

Whoever came up with Windows 8 needs to be fired.

Defenestrated would be fitting.

HydroCabron says

So to shut down, it can be Charms Bar -> Control Panel -> Family Safety -> Desktop -> Security -> Power Options -> Shut Down.

My favorite is that Pain in the ass flyout window on the right that is always in your damn way when you're trying to be productive. But takes over a minute of moving your mouse up and down the damn screen and clicking like a son of a bitch in the bottom right hand corner, but the flyout menu never comes out. When you need to reconnect to the WiFi because Windows decided to disconnect in the middle of a code push, AGAIN!

And would it have killed them have a Internet connection properities dialog that would let you see the current password. Like previous versions all had. It just makes it easier reading back the key, rather than getting on my hand and knees in the dark to get to the router to read it off a black decal with dark grey letters.

May be they will first fire all those H1-B visa people they have brought over from outside USA so local employees can get those jobs !

I miss the paperclip.

John Bailo says

Anything that reduces the number of Y-chromosomes here in the Seattle Sausagefest is ok with me.

Escorting is legal in Vancouver, not too far away.

Peter P says

I miss the paperclip.

I killed it.

New Renter says

Wasn't Microsoft just complaining they can't find enough STEM workers?

Ha ha. They were.
Maybe they are letting 5,800 janitors go.

lostand confused says

Whoever came up with Windows 8 needs to be fired.

Why complain when there is an easy solution:
Go Apple!

HydroCabron says

So to shut down, it can be Charms Bar -> Control Panel -> Family Safety -> Desktop -> Security -> Power Options -> Shut Down.

How often do you shutdown anyway? Computers sleep just fine most of the time.

Strategist says

lostand confused says

Whoever came up with Windows 8 needs to be fired.

Why complain when there is an easy solution:

Go Apple!

My MacBook Pro doesn't even have PgUp/PgDn/Home/End/Delete. Who thought of such a terrible idea?

In general, I think Lenovo makes better laptops. My 6-year-old ThinkPad is still running fine.

Aluminum looks fine but it is so uncomfortable to use.

Peter P says

I miss the paperclip.

The Paper Clip as an add on was more useful as a whole a productive user, than Windows 8 is as a whole. And I still think the Paper Clip was a useless pain the ass.

"Clink Clink"
http://www.georgelikesit.com/resources/zYW144l.jpg

At this point in time, I would simply re-install my current Win7, on a new computer than to have it pre-installed with Win8.

Strategist says

funny, your user icon was my first desktop picture on the Mac IIcx I got in 1989.

saved two whole years for that (when the Mac II was announced I decided I HAD to get one), $6000 for 16MHz 68030, 5MB RAM, 40MB HD, 8-bit VGA graphics card, 13" Sony monitor (university discount price).

$11,000 in today's money, sigh.

Microsoft's been irrelevant to me for 15+ years now, but it'd be great if they got their act together with the new xbox.

I'd like to have seen them make it into the next Amiga 500, something cheap that everyone who wanted to could start banging on as a hobbyist/indie programmer.

They already had half the stuff they needed with XNA 3. (Plot twist: in late 2012 they cancelled work on XNA!)

Problem is even consoles are kinda horse & buggy whip now. They've had 5M sales total so far, Apple's selling 13M iPhones a month now.

What might needs to happen is the dockable phone, something you can plug into your TV to play at home but you can take with you as your main phone.

Makes sense to me, but so do CNG-fueled RVs, so what do I know, LOL.

Bellingham Bill says

funny, your user icon was my first desktop picture on the Mac IIcx I got in 1989.

Glad you like it. I like unique things.Bellingham Bill says

$11,000 in today's money, sigh.

What? The latest MacBook I am using this minute was below $1500. Even got a $100 discount as I bought it in my son's name.

That Nutella sounds like a Class act.

Strategist says

New Renter says

Wasn't Microsoft just complaining they can't find enough STEM workers?

Ha ha. They were.

Maybe they are letting 5,800 janitors go.

Specifically, the report says “divisions of Microsoft that overlap” with Nokia’s devices business will see cuts, as will Microsoft’s marketing and engineering divisions

Some MBA types, some STEM too.

New Renter says

Strategist says

New Renter says

Wasn't Microsoft just complaining they can't find enough STEM workers?

Ha ha. They were.

Maybe they are letting 5,800 janitors go.

Specifically, the report says “divisions of Microsoft that overlap” with Nokia’s devices business will see cuts, as will Microsoft’s marketing and engineering divisions

Some MBA types, some STEM too.

Atleast the STEM shortage problem is solved with the announcement that18,000 will get sacked. Unless, the real shortage is high skilled workers who are willing to work for peanuts, in which case it's a strategy to eventually replace high paid workers with low paid workers.

Middle management is NOT a good place to spend your middle age.

I think it's a mistake to turn Microsoft into a mobile and device company. It will do just fine as a glue company.

Strategist says

Unless, the real shortage is high skilled workers who are willing to work for peanuts, in which case it's a strategy to eventually replace high paid workers with low paid workers.

The strategy I've seen is to lay off the high paid workers and bring them back on as "as-needed" contractors at a lower compensation.

New Renter says

Strategist says

Unless, the real shortage is high skilled workers who are willing to work for peanuts, in which case it's a strategy to eventually replace high paid workers with low paid workers.

The strategy I've seen is to lay off the high paid workers and bring them back on as "as-needed" contractors at a lower compensation.

From the company point of view that is a smart strategy. They could only do this if the shortage of skilled workers is not severe enough. I would say the abundance of H1 B visas and competition from India, China and other countries is holding back skilled wage growth.

Strategist says

New Renter says

Strategist says

Unless, the real shortage is high skilled workers who are willing to work for peanuts, in which case it's a strategy to eventually replace high paid workers with low paid workers.

The strategy I've seen is to lay off the high paid workers and bring them back on as "as-needed" contractors at a lower compensation.

From the company point of view that is a smart strategy. They could only do this if the shortage of skilled workers is not severe enough. I would say the abundance of H1 B visas and competition from India, China and other countries is holding back skilled wage growth.

...Couldn't resist.