New H1B Job Postings - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

Mini - I understand why people are sensitive about H1B visa holders already working at Microsoft. But, what about new job postings?

Why has Microsoft posted 462 new H1B jobs?
http://www.myvisajobs.com/Visa-Job-Sponsor/Microsoft-356252.htm

How can Microsoft turn their back on qualified people here in the United States? Can't Microsoft call a truce on H1B visas, at least until qualified US applicants have an opportunity to apply?

Your former co-workers lives are being uprooted, children being pulled out of school, ill family members need care and health insurance.

This is the only time in a highly successful 15+ year career that I've had to file an unemployment claim. The economy is in dire condition and this week's record breaking layoffs have overloaded the unemployment system - I had to wait over 45 minutes on the phone to ask a question, and by that time was in tears.

Hiring Managers, I urge you to please seek qualified US Microsoft alumni before posting jobs for H1B workers in far off lands. Your former co-workers, people who are your friends, neighbors, and colleagues, have worked hard and earned the right to a fair chance.

Thank you for your consideration. The job you save may be your own.

(Still in cool-down mode.)

Geez - please don't copy the entire comment - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

Anybody care to write an open letter to Steve Ballmer? I admit I don't have the balls to ask questions to Steve face to face in the town-hall meeting, but I really believe it is time for him to hear the voice from the field, loud and clear! Some of them may sound harsh, but I only said it because I still love this company and hope it can survive the next decade.

If I could, I'd make the following suggestions to Steve Ballmer and the top management team.

1. MSFT missed its quarterly estimation but Google IBM and Apple beat theirs. To blame our own failures to the economy is a convenient way to shrug away our problems. But last time I checked it, "Accountability" is still one of our company values. I believe now MSFT is facing the consequences of lack of vision and bad execution for a long time. It is a critical turning point for MSFT right now and I believe we still have a chance to turn things around if we act correctly and quickly.

2. We need a CLEAR SaaS strategy. We haven't been sitting on our hands and wasting time for way too long and need to address the problem immediately. Software is becoming a utility and computation is moving to the cloud. Turning a blind eye to this industry shift wouldn't do us any good. Our OS and rich client productivity software need to migrate to the online version.

I'm not saying we need to ship our online version of Office tomorrow, it is well known US still have a big chunk of dial-up users today, so are the rest of the world. But in this downturn economy environment, if we don't migrate online quickly, Google will kill us eventually. Period.

3. The company needs to value Engineering Excellence. I've been working for MS Service for over 10 years, and I feel this company now is far less valuing EE compared to it did 10 years ago. Managers are driving "initiatives". People are talking about "Compliance". What's the value of all these wonderful stuff if nobody is really working to create great software or help our customers? Why Xbox has the red-ring of death problem, and Zune has the stupid bug at the new year? Isn't that a clear enough sign MS isn't paying attention to product quality and customer experience anymore?

And how long do you think a company can survive since it starts to ignore product quality and customer experience?

4. We need to reduce our mid-management levels drastically. Too many levels of management is the company cancer. It prevents the top management from hearing what the customer is thinking, and it prevents the people in the front line from executing our top management's ideas efficiently. Take Vista as an example, since it comes out, our desktop OS market share dropped to below 90% for the first time in the last 10+ years. And I don't have one single customer or friend who tells me s/he loves it, yet when I went to TR our top management is CELEBRATING the victory of Vista on the stage. Sitting in the audience crowd, I was thinking to myself, what is fxxking wrong with this company??

5. We need to shut down Live search, Zune, and Window Mobile. We wasted tons of money on these areas and achieved nothing but proving ourselves morons compared to Google and Apple. After years of investing, Live search today may have 8% percent yet still shrinking market share. Zune? 4%. Windows Mobile? Apple beat its pants off with only one iPhone. Now it is time to admit we are not good at these areas, and let the competitors enjoy what they deserve to enjoy.

6. People in the product group and research group need to spend time with our customer, at least one month a year. From many email threads and conversation with the product team, I concluded that many of our product teams don't have the slightest idea of what the customers want and don't want. I have many frustrated customer who saw the product bugs reappear in the next release. What value is there for the customer if you keep adding features to the new release and reintroducing the bugs that are fixed in some QFE/service pack of last one?

If you actually do work for Microsoft, which I doubt, then you are really, really out of the loop. If you had access to company information, your thoughts wouldn't be based solely on public data... Go away, troll!

(Why copy so many lines for a two-line comment?)

Well That's Just Dreary - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

I hate to break the news to everyone but the simple fact of the matter is that MS is mature company in a maturing industry. If this company and the software industry were really growing then there would be no need for all the political games to see who is going to be the survivor.

The industry is canibalizing itself and the battle is over market share. The name of the game is lower unit cost of production, hence the importing of cheap and subservient labor.

Sure, there will continue to be marginal improvements. Aero is a nice UI touch but it really isn't anything transforming anyone's life.

Wall Street is doing what it does best and is pulling investment money away from and industry in decline.

So, for all of you purportedly best and brightest types in the Redmond ghetto, think about where you can best employ your talents. I don't think it's in the software industry. Think bioengineering and alternative energy.

When I look at the Redmond campus, I think about all the companies of the future that will be housed there someday. Of course all of the old timers will still refer to it as the Microsoft Campus but it will house the next generation of high tech.

I have to give the MS execs some credit. Just as Weyerhaeuser is reinventing from a fores products company to a residential real estate company, MS is transforming itself into a commercial real estate company.

For all you youngsters please note, the revolution is over, the wave has crested, the shark has been jumped. Go back to school and engage your talents elsewhere.

(Did BillG water ski over Judge Jackson?)

H1B Job Watch - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

New H1B Jobs posted for Microsoft Corporation
http://www.myvisajobs.com

Software Development Engin (37)
Program Manager (34)
Software Development Engin (25)
Lead Software Development (18)
Premier Field Engineer (18)
Lead Software Development (17)
User Experience Designer (14)
Marketing Manager (12)
Development Manager (11)
Lead Program Manager (11)

Location
Redmond, WA (407)
Bellevue, WA (55)
Washington, DC (32)
New York, NY (27)
Mountain View, CA (26)
Seattle, WA (26)
, (17)
San Francisco, CA (11)
Cambridge, MA (8)
Boston, MA (8)

(Sorry, but this has kind of run its course. Feel free to start up a new blog to discuss this.)

That Jawad Dude - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

Why does Jawad still have a job? He's not critical to anything we're working on. He's not a visionary, so he has no long-term value.

Why haven't we fired ALL managers (from leads on up) that don't have any direct reports?

(We get it. Folks really, really don't like Jawad. And never have.)

Bias? You're not reading well enough - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

Mini - i challenge you for your bias. i have seen so many anti-H1B posts but the opposite voice is not heard. do your job and stop the goddamn bias.

(I'm dropping some pretty vehement anti-H1B posts in the bit-bucket. I challenge you on your challenge.)

Spoonfed Microsofties - New comment on 3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3,600 Microsoft Shoes Waiting to Drop":

Can the MINI be constructive and focus on positive things instead of creating an environment where MS employees keep venting until they are tired of their BS?

No matter how hard you people vent, I am sure you are not going to get your jobs back. Some of the posts here are outright crazy. This is an example where even smart/cool people can crack under pressure. Will any company give specific metrics/criteria for layoffs? The only reason is financial condition and economic stability. Period. Welcome to free market society and corporate America!!! Stop whining and bitching!!!

Note to all the H1-B bashers! STFU! Did you really think there are so many qualified Americans for technology jobs? If you are a hiring manager, just look at the resumes you get from College grads OR talk to a friend who is interviewing or in a hiring manager capacity. You will know the difference. The facts are out there - too many high school and college dropouts. You will see a lot of Asian students, because they realize academics is their key to success. America values creativity/originality and pop/rock /american idol seems to be the answer here.

Here are a couple of good things to talk about:
- Groups that are hiring
- Surviving in a layoff
- Performance review (enough BS on this already)
- Innovativeness and startup company

Finally whatever, MINI's goal is and I personally don't care about that - He/She should stop for a minute and start thinking about how his posts for the few days impacts MS image and overall perception in the wall street and among the new and aspiring candidates. He/She doesn't care because he just wants the company to be skinned down. I wonder what he is going to do when the number goes from 95K to 15K or 1.5K. BS!!! May be he will just tear down his blog. Such a self-conscious narcissistic creature.

I have said this before. For many of you guys, MS is probably the first job out of college and you guys don't know shit about the way other companies operate. Consider for a minute, the diplomacy, tactfulness and the business instinct to launch a product without a test organization and lets see how you guys do it. Many companies don't even have a Q/A. Dev does testing, travel a few times to customer sites and sit in customer facing meetings.

You MSFTies are spoon fed, with a lot of garbage and so you puke a lot of shit in this blog.

Remember, surviving in a bigger company requires a different mind set - a mindset built out of tolerance and sophistication and less rough edges. I hope many of you get hired pretty soon not into MS, but in a startup company where you can work long hours and learn the appropriate values.

(Some good things in there. Some very not so good things in there.)

Hate H1Bs? - New comment on Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2":

I am a temp H1B worker. I graduated with MS from a reputed university in US. I worked for 5 years in silicon valley and recently moved to MSFT. Hell did I know that people here(MSFT) hate H1B's so much. Should have know before I moved.

(Don't let a slice of comments here scale up)

All Call to Action - New comment on Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2":

Friends, enough complaining. It's time for us to ORGANIZE and ACT.

The immigration system is broken..... Government, Media, Corporations, Co-workers, Shareholders - IS ANYONE Listening? WHO can expose the truth?

WHY isn't anything being done? How many more qualified US citizens, VOTERS, can wait for until the next round of H1B / L workers replace qualified American voters in our own backyard?

How can greedy billionaires continue to tell half truths and find loopholes in immigration laws to lower the overall cost of labor? And, how many government officials are involved in perpetuating the lie?

Fellow displaced Microsoft workers:
What ideas do people on this blog have to raise the volume and get the government to act NOW?

How do we get media attention and action? Lou Dobbs and Senator Grassley cannot be the only people who care about this issue.

Ask - List of contacts of people we need to reach

1. Government - People in positions of influence inside elected Officials offices - Senators, Congress, Governors. Don't know about you but submitting a form to my senator's website and a "thank you for your message" is getting ZERO accomplished.

2. Media contacts willing to investigate the abuse and expose the truth.

3. Advocates Special Interest Groups to advocate on behalf of displaced workers, American citizens formerly employed in the High tech Industry.

3. Influencers who can do something to stop the bleeding of American jobs.

4. Legal and legislative experts,

For God's sake, even the US Government knows that there is widespread fraud and abuse in the immigration system. Why isn't anything being done about it... report from the United
States Government Accounting Office ( GAO) on impact guest workers have on US citizens jobs http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03883.pdf

How many more qualified citizens can loose their jobs while to L and H visa holders remain? Insult to injury, the number of new H1B jobs increase daily - I counted over 160 openings since qualified displaced MS workers got the axe.

(You should fire up a blog or website and start making traction there; you are welcome to link here to relevant posts.)

Mini's a Partner? Hardly - New comment on Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Microsoft Layoff 2009 - Day 2":

"Recommendations: 1. Partner program eliminated immediatly. Full stop."

You do realize that Mini is a partner....don't you? If you got your wish, you would have to go somewhere else to kvetch.

(Okay, no more comments in this speculation. No, I am not a Microsoft L68+ Partner. You can only confirm this for yourself by imagining me getting out of my current elderly, beat-up faithful car at Freddie's, excited about this week's discounts.)

Hey, My Badge! - We'll See - New comment on FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall":

Layoff slated for tomorrow. Badges wont work on Friday morning.

Lots of Police - We'll See - New comment on FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall":

I can tell you that I heard from a reliable source with the city that the Redmond police have been asked to staff campus with as many off duty officer as possible tomorrow. I full expect to see a significant number of lay offs. That being said I agree with many others here... They'll take this opportunity to purge those employees that are under-performing.

Sad Day - We'll See - New comment on FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall":

It's a sad day for MSFT. I know for a fact that they will notify all of those who are being released on Thursday, including FTE and give them walking papers for a very near departure. And it will not depend on how you contribute or what your review history is like. It will be the orgs that management wants slimmed down. They are getting 60 days pay and some more based on time at the company.

Gerri Elliot is already gone - New comment on FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall.

gizmo has left a new comment on your post "FY09Q2 Results + Town Hall":

Look for an announcement that Gerri Elliot is departing or in a new role.

(Yep already noted as (Former) as of 01/14/2009: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/elliott/default.aspx )

Sometimes a Cigar isn't just a Cigar - New comment on No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R...":

Mini - time to re-add the layoff topic back to your main page. I wouldn't worry about any cigars (unless you are referring to the meat ones you smoke every night...)

(Duuude! Well, no, not if that is the level of discourse awaiting.)

H1Bs in a Down Economy - New comment on No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R....

Buzz Lightyear has left a new comment on your post "No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R...":

The first group to go should be the H1B holders. If they're that good and vital let them work from our office in Bumfaq. I'd like to see Congress nullify all tech-related H1Bs now that the music has stopped. If we can layoff folks who were born and raised here we can't afford to be the world's employer. They do the same thing in India so why not here?

Motivation? - New comment on No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R...":

The original lay off post which was clearly irresponsible and apparently largely based on the rumor mill and now this follow up post that doesn't appear to be moderated in any fashion has caused me to question the motivation of this blog...

(Your refund is in the mail. Oh, wait…)

This is OutsideMS, not InsideMS - New comment on No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "No Layoffs at Microsoft, and a Round-up of other R...":

Can someone sum up / paraphrase the InsideMS response?

Sure would be nice to see something official straight from the horse's mouth, instead of the last few days of rumor-mongering.

Would be even better to see a post this weekend from Mini with his/her response to InsideMS's response. :)

(No. Direct InsideMS content is off-limits here. General discussion of it is not.)