Jan
23
posted at: 10:35 AM
Yesterday, Microsoft announced their first-ever companywide layoffs amidst the bleak downturn of the global economy. As an employee of a PR agency who's biggest client is the big M, naturally I'm a bit concerned, as any move the boys in Redmond make impacts our bottom line and the state of our company.
Close to home on more of a local level as well, have been large-scale layoffs at Intel, who have two large offices in the suburban Portland area.
Despite this dark news we keep seeing in companies across the tech industry, I keep asking myself if things are really as bad as they seem?
Microsoft is actually still hiring a large number of Software Development Engineers - over 150, in fact - to help grow and support a variety of their different product platforms. Some positions were posted as recently as today.
Intel, on the other hand, does not have anywhere near as many position openings, but there is no clear evidence of a hiring freeze.
The worst may still be yet to come for those of us working in technology, but the message may have been sensationalized. Unlike the dot com bust of 2001, people in tech facing unemployment still have options.