14 DAY TRIAL // For Microsoft, the 100,000 employees milestone is right on the horizon. The Redmond company has been growing its workforce at a rapid pace over the past couple of years and with the current growth rate it will hit the 100,000 mark by 2009. Microsoft has been continuing to expand its presence both on home territory and abroad, and the giant shows little signs of stopping. In fact, the company is preparing to swallow no less than 1,000 new engineers in China.
By the end of the current fiscal year, which is synonymous with June 30 2008, China will prove a fertile soil for Microsoft's growth, providing a 20% increase in its local workforce. By mid 2008, Microsoft China will employ some 6,000 workers, most of which will be involved in Research and Development projects, according to Ya-Qin Zhang, Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft's China Research & Development Group.
Microsoft is in fact very close to going over the 80,000 employee milestone. According to official data made available by the Redmond company, the current employment headcount is 78,565 world wide. This is a massive increase compared to the statistics posted at the end of FY2006, namely June 30 2007, when Microsoft employed some 71,553 people worldwide. This is an increase of over 7,000 workers just in the past five months, exceeding the employee growth rate for the past fiscal year.
Between July 1 2006 and June 30 2007, Microsoft hired a total of 10,081 employees, this despite estimates announcing that it was planning to add no more than 5,000 workers in FY 2006. At this time, 47,645 employees are located in the United States of America with 35,510 just in the Puget Sound area (Washington State). Earlier this year, Microsoft Chief Executive office Steve Ballmer characterized Google's employment growth as insane, criticizing the fact that the Mountain View-based search giant doubled the number of its workers in just one year.