Re:Outlook is down, and so is Microsoft's status page
by soci on Friday November 13, 2026 @02:18AM
(#50479565)
Microsoft has not layed off half of its workers:
2021-2026: +23% employees
2024-2026: -2% employees
What changed is the productivity per employee: 2021-2026: +60% 2024-2026: +38%
To be honest, I also assumed your take on this at first. But after a bit of research I found quite a different reality!
Re:Outlook is down, and so is Microsoft's status page
by quii on Friday November 13, 2026 @06:58AM
(#50482259)
I'm sure "productivity per employee" is definitely not a daft vanity metric
Re:Outlook is down, and so is Microsoft's status page
by awesomegoat_com on Friday November 13, 2026 @10:46AM
(#50485223)
In all fairness, Microsoft really did layed off low double digit % of workforce since 2022.
The total populace did not change, because it was replaced by new "talent".
Re:Outlook is down, and so is Microsoft's status page
by soci on Friday November 13, 2026 @11:20AM
(#50485740)
You are right, thank you. I suspect they would have layed off people in certain areas to milk the cow, while invested in hiring talent in areas of growth. Still no evident correlation between layoffs and the current blackout incident mostly affecting the Cloud business.
But this is certainly exactly what I'd expect after indiscriminately laying off half your workers, then immediately offering a buyout, to make sure any experienced people left can find the door.
If this incident, or the difficulty they're having with remediation, are somehow not caused by any of that, then it's at least a preview of what things are going to be like.