As Microsoft Lays Off 10,000 Workers, the Battle with Machines is Evolving

It is really not the type of rain you would expect in tech: many layoffs across all domains of technology space, from consumer to the enterprise world. Yes, ‘Microsoft plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday, making it the latest tech company to reduce staff because of growing economic uncertainty. Speaking before the layoff announcement at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the company was not immune to a weaker global economy. “No one can defy gravity and gravity here is inflation-adjusted economic growth,” he told WEF founder Klaus Schwab in a livestreamed discussion.’

The problem though is that this process is just the beginning: for decades, work dislocations have largely focused on blue collar workers as technology systems automated most of the things they used to do. But as AI machines advance, most while collar jobs will go. In short, even a reliable computer science degree in the world of technology may not do that magic to keep us employed, because nothing is outside the bounds of disruption.

We have become more efficient at work places. A simple Calendly page provided by our Nigerian brother from Atlanta has possibly disintermediated what most secretaries and personal assistants do. Drop that page and magically, you do not need any human being to run your calendars. Scale that automation to other domains, you will get the clarity that the workplace is changing.

Worried the robots are taking over? You may not be too far off, after artificial intelligence language model ChatGPT was accidentally recommended for a job interview. The bot, which can solve IT dilemmas, write articles and has even been used by students to get an easy essay pass, recently made it to the interview round with communications consultancy firm Schwa — after writing an anonymous 300-word application. The company owner, who was aware the bot was applying but didn’t know which application was the AI one, said that while the final draft made it to his desk, it took some coaching to get there.

Of course, we cannot decouple from the war in Russia. As this war continues, we are re-learning that Russia is indeed a very powerful country in the world. Without the war, the UK might not have changed its prime ministers, Germany its defense minister, and many other exogenous and endogenous events within Europe and beyond, would not have happened. Unfortunately, the war is still ongoing, creating problems for everyone, with Ukraine paying with blood and others with wallets and pulses. I hope they find a solution because it is the root cause of most things, from inflation to poverty in some lands.

Microsoft has announced that it will lay off around 10,000 of its employees, less than 5% of its total workforce. The software giant (parent company to LinkedIn) will begin the redundancies Wednesday, as it faces customers who want to do “more with less” amid an uncertain global economy. Microsoft, which joins the likes of Amazon, Meta and Alphabet in announcing recent layoffs, will take on a $1.2 billion charge related to restructuring costs. The company says it will continue to hire and invest in strategic areas and called out its focus on artificial intelligence. (LinkedIn News)

Good People, this is not to panic. As Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc fire and layoff people, they’re also recruiting many. In other words, we have to adapt by learning new things. Opportunities come, opportunities go – and new ones emerge.

In Nigeria, after the civil war, the most fascinating engineering degree was civil engineering. That moved to chemical/petroleum as the boom of oil skyrotted demand. Today, we can agree that electrical/electronics holds the ace. That is how the world economy functions. But we do not need to get new degrees, we just have to relearn to remain relevant. 

Why? With these thousands of experienced brilliant people flooding the labour market, competition will rise and that means we have to be steps ahead. The data is clear: opportunities will abound in the future but new skills will be needed to unlock them.

LinkedIn has insights on current fastest growing jobs in the US: “Head of revenue operations tops this year’s U.S. LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise list — a data-backed ranking of the 25 fastest-growing job titles over the past five years. While the employment landscape continues to evolve — from skills-based hiring to hybrid work demand — this list provides insight into where long-term opportunity lies as professionals navigate uncertainty. There are roles pointing to a greater focus on the employee experience (such as chief people officer and employee experience manager), data security and compliance (data governance manager) and corporate sustainability (sustainability analyst).”

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: “But new skills will be needed to unlock them”- Valid!

I was on a call with a leading VC Boss over the weekend and he disclosed that his interest in investing in a niche was truncated because all the name tendered to him lacked the skillet to manage the asset into profitability! On Jobs: As long as there are human, there will always be jobs, competency is a major barrier!
Bluntly, nobody let’s go of value.

Comment 2: As technology, innovations and the endless drive for industrial efficiency continue narrow down the labour force of large firms, I expect the calls for some type of Universal Basic Income to grow louder in the coming years.

In the very near future, everything that can be automated will be automated… Leaving the ever growing population to scramble for whatever will be left irrespective of their skill level or competency.

Comment 3: As partially contrary to the widespread argument that AI will not replace jobs if one learns how to apply the technology, it will certainly reduce head count as ” we have become more efficient at workplaces “. And the current global unrest is no doubt a contributing factor in accelerating this process.

Going forward Professor, Our new motto is ” Upskill Or Step Aside. “

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