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Microsoft criticized after details of a meeting it held in Davos, Switzerland, offended company workers.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Microsoft hosted an exclusive event for about 50 people in a Swiss ski resort on Tuesday night, with sources telling the publication that attendees were treated to a live performance from the iconic musician that Sting. The theme of the party is sustainability, according to WSJ.
Those invited to the event—that the WSJ described Wednesday as “intimate”—reportedly including some of the company’s top executives.
The next day, Microsoft announced it slashing 10,000 jobs—nearly 5% of its workforce—cited “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”
This marks the largest round of layoffs at the company since 2014. At the end of last year, the company announced that it lay off 1,000 workers.
In an email to employees on Wednesday, CEO Satya Nadella said some workers will be told that day that their jobs will be cut, adding that the downsizing will end in the third quarter of 2023.
“We will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently,” he said. “These decisions are difficult, but necessary.”
“We live in times of significant change,” Nadella also told his workers. “We see organizations in every industry and geography taking precautions because some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are expecting one.”
Microsoft is just the latest behemoth in the tech sector to announce layoffs. Amazon, Twitter and Salesforce is one of several tech firms that have also announced layoffs in recent months.
‘Too bad’
Some Microsoft employees told the WSJ that turn of events between Tuesday and Wednesday is not a good look for the tech giant.
As details emerged about the company’s gathering in Davos—where the rich and powerful from around the world gather for the World Economic Forum’s annual flagship conference—the company also faced criticism on social media, with in some. dubbing the company’s actions “hypocrisy” and a “bad look.”
Rita Gunther McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School and author of The End of Competitive Advantage, said in a tweet that week at Microsoft left the company’s reputation somewhat tarnished.
“I’m a big fan of Satya Nadella, but this is a seriously bad executive symbol,” he said.
Angus Norton, CEO of Seattle-based Bodhi Venture Labs and a former VP at Microsoft, said of the tech titan’s PR misstep that “the optics are bad.”
“I think it’s easy to forget that the term ‘job cuts’ = ‘livelihoods affected’,” he said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. “Behind every ‘cut’ is a person, a family, a mouth to feed.”
Representatives for Microsoft were not available for comment when contacted luck.
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