2024 has seen two mass layoffs at Microsoft, with 1900 staff laid off in January, before a further 650 Xbox employees were shown the door in September.
Regardless, Microsoft’s shares are up and the company’s market value is now higher than $3tn, as it works to capitalise on the rise of AI.
The board doesn’t care about the number of people employed. They care about the current profitability and future profitability.
Of course that’s their job; to look after shareholder interests. And the money would move to a better investment if they didn’t.
It’s the whole system you need to change, if you seek change, not moan about an individual CEO.
I don’t see how paying him so much is actually increasing dividends though.
Pay him half as much or find someone else who will do it for half as much
That’s why Mitbestimmungsgesetz can be goddamn fucking awesome.
That would literally change everything for the better.
I’ve never heard of that. That’s a cool idea.
That would be awesome, but would have limited results if there are still a few enormous companies with patent and IP laws preventing competition.
You can’t have that eternal fight between democratic egalitarian monopoly and competitive jungle. The whole point of civilization is to have both representation and competition.
Current profitability is up. Profit margins are also up from last year. But I could see investors looking at the lack of any path after the current Xbox and wondering why they employ so many there. I’m sure other areas have also seen some stagnation.