14 DAY TRIAL // This week, Microsoft started a new round of layoffs, firing approximately 2,100 employees and making some decisions that could in the end have an impact on its future projects.
The company decided to shut down the Silicon Valley research lab, which is actually the location where lots of the recent Microsoft innovations were born. While it does sound a bit risky to close such an innovation powerhouse, Microsoft reportedly believes that it has absolutely no reason to worry about the future of its Research unit, because the other 11 worldwide are still up and running.
Approximately 50 engineers and scientists working at the research lab are said to be directly affected by this closure, but some of them are expected to be transferred to Microsoft’s campus in Redmond.
The move is a bit surprising given Microsoft’s focus on innovation these days, as the company has invested aggressively in building new technologies and services which could at some point be implemented in its products.
Living proof is the interactive live tiles, a project created by the Microsoft Research Unit and which the company could use in Windows 9 as a factory-installed feature for touch-capable devices.
More than 1,000 scientists still working for Microsoft
Even though it’s no longer running the Silicon Valley research lab, Microsoft remains a company that bets big on such a division, so it’s still operating other 11 labs across the world. Overall, more than 1,000 scientists are working for the company right now.
As far as the Redmond center is concerned, it now employs 75 workers that are actively working in the research field, with deep implications for privacy, security, and online search, according to re/code.
Undoubtedly, Microsoft will continue to pump money into this field, and today’s closure is only the result of the worldwide job cuts that Microsoft is making following the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit.
More than 18,000 people fired this year
The layoff process that Microsoft started in July includes the firing of a total of 18,000 workers, many of which are coming from the newly purchased Nokia Devices and Services unit.
Satya Nadella himself explained that letting some employees go was a must because the company needed to streamline the development process and bring divisions closer and make them work together on future projects.
Basically, all divisions within the company have been impacted by these layoffs, including the Windows operating system unit, which lost several testers and developers.
Until now, the layoff was divided into two different rounds, one with 13,000 workers and a second one with 2,100. A third wave of layoffs is also expected before the end of the year.