EXACTLY 60 DAYS AGO, MICROSOFT SINGAPORE'S Managing Director JESSICA TAN who is also a Member of Parliament was quoted as saying this:
“I’m so shocked that you asked me just now if I’m laying off staff,”... "These are people! They’re not products, they’re not furniture.” ... "But when you do that, you want to try and hire back talent, you’re not going to get it. Because you’ve lost the trust with the people who drive the value for your company.”
Full article is reproduced below and can be found at: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/288568.asp#
Was it just ignorance, lip-service, ego or just "mis-speaking" that led Ms Jessica Tan to make those strong comments?
BECAUSE LAST NIGHT, MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING:
SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. will make the first mass layoffs in its 34-year history, cutting 5,000 jobs as demand for personal computers falls and even one of the world's richest companies gets burned by the recession.
The company announced the cuts Thursday as it reported an 11 percent drop in second-quarter profit, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
Microsoft shares plunged more than 11 percent. "We're certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said during a conference call.
More: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-resorts-to-first-apf-14133123.html
------------------------------------------------
November 22, 2008
Still hiring, not Firing
What makes Microsoft different from the rest, right down to its generous staff pantry?
Christie Loh
deputy business editor
[email protected]
LET’S face it — if you’re the boss of a profit-driven company, you’ve probably been poring over the manpower list, pen in hand, ready to strike off as many names as you deem necessary.
During these tough times, it’s the oft-resorted way towards lighter balance sheets and pacified shareholders.
But Microsoft Singapore’s managing director, Ms Jessica Tan, 42, refuses to go down that road.
The mere suggestion repulses her, as I found out one afternoon while we were chatting about the software giant’s business philosophy during an economic downturn.
“I’m so shocked that you asked me just now if I’m laying off staff,” said Ms Tan, who is also a Member of Parliament.
Fifteen minutes earlier, I had asked: “Why not just lay off staff, it’s the easiest way to cut costs”. She retorted: “These are people! They’re not products, they’re not furniture.”
Still, many companies are doing it, I pointed out.
“But when you do that, you want to try and hire back talent, you’re not going to get it. Because you’ve lost the trust with the people who drive the value for your company.”
To Ms Tan, who leads a team of 130 staff in Singapore, talent comes out tops in good or bad times.
When asked if the company forsees a scenario in which there is no way out except retrenchment, Ms Tan replied: “We are a performance-driven company, so the team we have in place is the optimal team. Retrenchment is not on the radar.”
LONG-TERM INVESTING
Microsoft continues to pump in money here. It is still hiring for business needs, involving technical, sales and marketing roles. Ms Tan declined to provide figures.
Externally, tie-ups with local schools and entrepreneurs continue. Earlier this week, the firm launched an initiative to offer start-ups free software and relevant resources for three years.
There is self-interest in grooming the local software eco-system so that it thrives. “If there’s no talent in the market and there’re no companies driving innovation, then there is no IT industry. Singapore will lag behind and Microsoft in Singapore will suffer, just as everybody else in the industry will,” said Ms Tan.
For a sense of how closely Microsoft is tied to the fortunes of Singapore’s technology industry, check out these 2007 figures from independent research house IDC: Every $1 in Microsoft sales generated nearly $13 of revenue for the local eco-system. And of the 139,000 IT workers here, 42 per cent of those jobs were related to Microsoft.
The American firm’s name is also stamped on the corporate social responsibility scene here — thanks in large part to the philanthropic mindset of founder Bill Gates.
During this downturn, CSR activities will not be cut back. “We don’t want to send the signal that we’re fair-weather friends,” said Ms Tan.
PEOPLE MATTER
Neither is Microsoft cutting back on staff welfare.
Fridges in their spacious pantries — one on each of their seven floors in the NTUC Building — remain well-stocked with fruit juices and biscuits.
Baskets of fruit still arrive daily, as well as palm-sized packets of healthy nuts and dried fruit. Earlier this week, a new coffee-making machine _arrived.
Despite the economic downturn, “the benefits seem to have become better”, laughed intellectual property manager Ng Li San, who has been with Microsoft for nearly four years now.
Ask the staff if they fear for their jobs and they sing the same tune: It’s not the “Microsoft culture” to retrench. Recent town halls, which take place monthly, also gave them that reassuring message.
One staff, Mr Viju Chakarapany, said he had never witnessed job cuts in bad times — like Sars-stricken 2003 and the dotcom bust — in his nine years with the company.
How, then, does the outfit weather storms?
“We’re pretty lean. Most of us do more than a person’s work. That helps because in a downturn, we never really retrench,” said Mr Chakarapany, group services sales manager.
BASIC DISCIPLINE
Ms Tan shot down the suggestion that Microsoft’s able to continue spending money because it has deep pockets to begin with.
The Singapore operations’ budget has not grown or shrunk with the economic tide, said the executive, who has to meet targets for both profit and revenue. (How much is generated here, she would not say.)
“In good or bad times, it’s the same discipline that we exercise.” No money goes out if the expenditure cannot be “business-justified”.
But, she conceded, the company is trying to eliminate “unnecessary spending” as a cost-cutting measure. An example: Hold a live meeting via the Internet, instead of flying overseas.
Cost-cutting ideas currently dominate Microsoft’s marketing proposition to customers, said Mr Rashish Pandey, who is in charge of marketing Microsoft’s Office products. For example, Fuji Xerox — a customer of Microsoft — saw a 50-per-cent improvement in productivity after it rolled out Microsoft software for internal communications, said Ms Tan.
She is hoping more will look toMicrosoft for solutions on cost savings and productivity gains duringthe downturn.
Admittedly, customers are currently taking longer to approve a purchase; they’re more “deliberate”, she said.
But the software firm’s still enjoying “double-digit growth” in sales, she said, and the present business clime is not all dire.
“My biggest fear is that everyone will take this doom-and-gloom perspective and start missing the opportunities,” said Ms Tan. “If I may say so, destiny is in our own hands.”
“I’m so shocked that you asked me just now if I’m laying off staff,”... "These are people! They’re not products, they’re not furniture.” ... "But when you do that, you want to try and hire back talent, you’re not going to get it. Because you’ve lost the trust with the people who drive the value for your company.”
Full article is reproduced below and can be found at: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/288568.asp#
Was it just ignorance, lip-service, ego or just "mis-speaking" that led Ms Jessica Tan to make those strong comments?
BECAUSE LAST NIGHT, MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING:
SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. will make the first mass layoffs in its 34-year history, cutting 5,000 jobs as demand for personal computers falls and even one of the world's richest companies gets burned by the recession.
The company announced the cuts Thursday as it reported an 11 percent drop in second-quarter profit, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
Microsoft shares plunged more than 11 percent. "We're certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said during a conference call.
More: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-resorts-to-first-apf-14133123.html
------------------------------------------------
November 22, 2008
Still hiring, not Firing
What makes Microsoft different from the rest, right down to its generous staff pantry?
Christie Loh
deputy business editor
[email protected]
LET’S face it — if you’re the boss of a profit-driven company, you’ve probably been poring over the manpower list, pen in hand, ready to strike off as many names as you deem necessary.
During these tough times, it’s the oft-resorted way towards lighter balance sheets and pacified shareholders.
But Microsoft Singapore’s managing director, Ms Jessica Tan, 42, refuses to go down that road.
The mere suggestion repulses her, as I found out one afternoon while we were chatting about the software giant’s business philosophy during an economic downturn.
“I’m so shocked that you asked me just now if I’m laying off staff,” said Ms Tan, who is also a Member of Parliament.
Fifteen minutes earlier, I had asked: “Why not just lay off staff, it’s the easiest way to cut costs”. She retorted: “These are people! They’re not products, they’re not furniture.”
Still, many companies are doing it, I pointed out.
“But when you do that, you want to try and hire back talent, you’re not going to get it. Because you’ve lost the trust with the people who drive the value for your company.”
To Ms Tan, who leads a team of 130 staff in Singapore, talent comes out tops in good or bad times.
When asked if the company forsees a scenario in which there is no way out except retrenchment, Ms Tan replied: “We are a performance-driven company, so the team we have in place is the optimal team. Retrenchment is not on the radar.”
LONG-TERM INVESTING
Microsoft continues to pump in money here. It is still hiring for business needs, involving technical, sales and marketing roles. Ms Tan declined to provide figures.
Externally, tie-ups with local schools and entrepreneurs continue. Earlier this week, the firm launched an initiative to offer start-ups free software and relevant resources for three years.
There is self-interest in grooming the local software eco-system so that it thrives. “If there’s no talent in the market and there’re no companies driving innovation, then there is no IT industry. Singapore will lag behind and Microsoft in Singapore will suffer, just as everybody else in the industry will,” said Ms Tan.
For a sense of how closely Microsoft is tied to the fortunes of Singapore’s technology industry, check out these 2007 figures from independent research house IDC: Every $1 in Microsoft sales generated nearly $13 of revenue for the local eco-system. And of the 139,000 IT workers here, 42 per cent of those jobs were related to Microsoft.
The American firm’s name is also stamped on the corporate social responsibility scene here — thanks in large part to the philanthropic mindset of founder Bill Gates.
During this downturn, CSR activities will not be cut back. “We don’t want to send the signal that we’re fair-weather friends,” said Ms Tan.
PEOPLE MATTER
Neither is Microsoft cutting back on staff welfare.
Fridges in their spacious pantries — one on each of their seven floors in the NTUC Building — remain well-stocked with fruit juices and biscuits.
Baskets of fruit still arrive daily, as well as palm-sized packets of healthy nuts and dried fruit. Earlier this week, a new coffee-making machine _arrived.
Despite the economic downturn, “the benefits seem to have become better”, laughed intellectual property manager Ng Li San, who has been with Microsoft for nearly four years now.
Ask the staff if they fear for their jobs and they sing the same tune: It’s not the “Microsoft culture” to retrench. Recent town halls, which take place monthly, also gave them that reassuring message.
One staff, Mr Viju Chakarapany, said he had never witnessed job cuts in bad times — like Sars-stricken 2003 and the dotcom bust — in his nine years with the company.
How, then, does the outfit weather storms?
“We’re pretty lean. Most of us do more than a person’s work. That helps because in a downturn, we never really retrench,” said Mr Chakarapany, group services sales manager.
BASIC DISCIPLINE
Ms Tan shot down the suggestion that Microsoft’s able to continue spending money because it has deep pockets to begin with.
The Singapore operations’ budget has not grown or shrunk with the economic tide, said the executive, who has to meet targets for both profit and revenue. (How much is generated here, she would not say.)
“In good or bad times, it’s the same discipline that we exercise.” No money goes out if the expenditure cannot be “business-justified”.
But, she conceded, the company is trying to eliminate “unnecessary spending” as a cost-cutting measure. An example: Hold a live meeting via the Internet, instead of flying overseas.
Cost-cutting ideas currently dominate Microsoft’s marketing proposition to customers, said Mr Rashish Pandey, who is in charge of marketing Microsoft’s Office products. For example, Fuji Xerox — a customer of Microsoft — saw a 50-per-cent improvement in productivity after it rolled out Microsoft software for internal communications, said Ms Tan.
She is hoping more will look toMicrosoft for solutions on cost savings and productivity gains duringthe downturn.
Admittedly, customers are currently taking longer to approve a purchase; they’re more “deliberate”, she said.
But the software firm’s still enjoying “double-digit growth” in sales, she said, and the present business clime is not all dire.
“My biggest fear is that everyone will take this doom-and-gloom perspective and start missing the opportunities,” said Ms Tan. “If I may say so, destiny is in our own hands.”
