I’ve heard that they won’t do a straight layoff because they’d have to let the cheap labor go first (H1B visa folks). They don’t want to do that. So they’re going to reorg in a musical chairs fashion, and if you don’t have a job when the music stops, you’re out.
H1B visa’s are to hire “skilled workers” who can’t be found among current residents. In theory, you have a hard time justifying hiring H1B folks if you’re laying off citizens and permanent residents with the same job title.
As someone who works for an employer that hires a LOT of H1B visa programmers and is outsourcing to India like crazy, I see the logic to Microsoft’s plan – if this is true. My work group is currently about 25% H1B visa status employees.
So, rather than do a full layoff – they’ll force the issue with reorgs. Cheaper labor in-house candidates will be grabbed up in the re-orgs. More expensive engineers/programmers will be looking around when the music stops.
