Microsoft getting ready to lay off 17% of staff

[Comrade Tovya]

To add to my last comment...

Another quote from another source stated:

Still, a decision to make "across-the-board, announced layoffs" would be unusual for Microsoft, said Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Helm. Helm said that even following the bursting of the Internet bubble, the company avoided taking the drastic action. "I can't say it will never happen, but it seems unlikely," Helm said.

Helm suggested that rather than layoffs, the company is likely to continue a hiring slowdown, to implement "good attrition" of "low-rated employees," and to cut "marginal products."