Layoffs might be in Twitter’s future

After assuming the post, Twitter’s returning CEO Jack Dorsey looks to be preparing for layoffs as early as October 13^th. The company won’t address these rumours but sources for both The New York Times and Recode say that there will be some people losing their jobs soon, as to how many these would be is yet to be determined.

Recode believes that these layoffs are part of an attempt to streamline a “bloated” engineering team. While the social network has been improving its bottom line, there’s supposedly a sense among insiders that the engineering team of the company is bigger than it should be when related to its growth. The company has doubled its workforce in the past couple of years even if they’ve added around 50 percent more users.

Source: Engadget

Microsoft readying to lay off 7,800 workers from mobile phone unit

The reign of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been punctuated by massive change in management and massive layoffs - Photo from Microsoft

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

More change is afoot at Microsoft which has seen various departures in management due to recent restructuring, the ripple effect of these changes and compressions is the loss of jobs. Microsoft announced today that it will lay off 7,800 workers, majority of these coming from the declining smartphone unit, which it acquired from an already weakend Nokia just last year for US $7.2 billion. Microsoft is the third largest player in mobile behind Apple and Google, but it holds a tiny 2.5 per cent market share, with no indication of moving up.

These layoffs are separate and in addition to the expected 18,000 employees that Microsoft announced would be laid off a year ago as part of the larger restructuring plan. It must be remembered that Microsoft inherited 25,000 employees as a result of the Nokia acquistion last year. This latest development questions what the future of Windows on Mobile Phone will be. Microsoft also relayed it is writing off $7.6 billion related to its acquisition of Nokia and resulting restructuring costs which comes off as a loss for the company.

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BlackBerry cuts back its smartphone workforce

Things aren’t getting any easier for smartphone maker BlackBerry as they lay off people from their smartphone business. The Canadian company won’t say how many or where the job losses are going to be coming from but that it would affect “a number of employees around the world.” According to BlackBerry, the job cuts are a result of moves to consolidate its device software, application, and hardware business. It isn’t a secret that the company is struggling to keep up in the big smartphone market. BlackBerry could look into entering new opportunities like in the Internet of Things market or bolster the software side of their business.

Source: SlashGear

HP set to split business into two next year, 5,000 more jobs lost

HP is reportedly looking to divide the company into two. As a result of this division, HP Inc. will focus on computing and printing while  Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will expand corporate computing, software, infrastructure and services as well as its finance division. This opens the company up to all sorts of possible partnerships and acquisitions from the likes of Lenovo or others. As with any major corporate restructuring for a company the size of HP, job losses are expected. Around 5,000 employees are expected to be cut.  This brings the number of job losses since Meg Whitman took over HP in 2011 to 55,000.

The quote from Whitman states, "The decision to separate into two market-leading companies underscores our commitment to the turnaround plan. It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics, while generating long-term value for shareholders."

Whitman is expected to be CEO fo the Enterprise division while remaining as Chairman of the PC and printing company.

Source: Recode