Microsoft to employees: ‘We plan to right-size our manufacturing operations’

How it’s communicating those layoffs to employees doesn’t seem to be helping matters. Microsoft published the email from Stephen Elop, head of Microsoft’s devices unit, to about 12,500 laid-off employees. The lion’s share of the employees who are losing jobs come from his department.

The memo begins, “Hello there,” ends with “Regards,” and is loaded with business jargon. Terms such as “financial envelope,” “business continuity,” and “right-size our manufacturing operations” are peppered throughout. Worse, it barely makes clear that its recipients have been discharged. It’s mostly about the company’s new strategy to make and sell Windows phones, which wouldn’t seem a primary concern for people who no longer work for Microsoft.

This paragraph is the 11th from the top:

We plan that this would result in an estimated reduction of 12,500 factory direct and professional employees over the next year. These decisions are difficult for the team, and we plan to support departing team members with severance benefits.