14 DAY TRIAL // While in the process of cutting no less than 5,000 jobs by mid-2010, Microsoft claims that it will hire thousands of people on new positions that the company is yet to create, this year alone. Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel, has failed to specify exactly the number of new workers that the software giant will require. The company was less abstract when it came down to its plans to let people go as a direct result of the poor results associated with the second fiscal quarter in 2009. Back in January 2009, the company responded to the effects of the global economic downturn by slashing 1,400 jobs on the spot at the start of the year, and indicating that 3,600 would follow by the summer of 2010.
“As we have previously said, even with the down economy, Microsoft will create several thousand new jobs this year as we invest in new growth areas and emerging technologies,” Smith said, making sure to emphasize that Microsoft was as American as it could get, despite over 35% of its innovation being generated by foreign employees working in the U.S., a small number compared with the actual U.S. citizens working with the company.
At the same time, Microsoft is hitting the break hard on hires of foreign workers, and is promising to give jobs mainly to people born and bread in the U.S. “The vast majority of our U.S. hires in the coming 12 months will be American workers. But to succeed and continue adding jobs in the highly competitive global technology business, Microsoft and other U.S. companies must be able to hire top talent wherever it is located,” Smith added.
Microsoft's General Counsel pointed to the global financial crisis in an effort to argue why the company had reduced the number of H-1B visa applications, necessary for foreign workers to remain in the U.S. And while stressing the reinvigorated focus on American talent, Smith also emphasized the need to continue to attract the best minds from around the world.
“Given the economic downturn, we are filing substantially fewer H-1B applications than we filed last year. Unlike previous years, a solid majority of our applications this year are for employees who are already working for Microsoft in the United States, so we can retain their talent and specialized skills in this country rather than risk losing them to a foreign competitor,” Smith concluded.