We posted a little while back on the rumour that Microsoft may be slashing 15 000 jobs. At that time I did say that I found it to be highly unlikely and while job cuts were likely, I expected it to be far fewer and closer to the 9000 mark.
Well it seems that I was overly pessimistic, as overnight Microsoft has announced that it will be cutting 5000 jobs due to the economic downturn. Most of these jobs will be in the R&D, Marketing, sales and human resource departments.
So will this affect us gamers? Well possibly, but not in this generation. The cuts in the R&D department may mean that the next version of the Xbox is going to be delayed – especially with the current console doing well in the market and the obvious cuts in spending by the technical giant from Redmond.
Source: News.com.au
Last Updated: January 23, 2009
easy
January 23, 2009 at 11:13
i would assume this is more of a preemptive action than anything else. basically tightening their belts before they get nailed by the recession.
i doubt it will have any affect on gamers as a whole, even in the next gen of consoles to come.
if ms cut more jobs later this year, q3/4 then it’ll give a better indication that they are in a crisis. really doubt that is the case though.
Bboy
January 23, 2009 at 11:47
Well, I tell you – since I got Left 4 Dead at LEAST 5000 zombies have lost their jobs by my hand.