If you have to talk about something because of one reason or another, and while being a whistle blower might be cool, start thinking of the bigger ramifications of what you are doing. A Contractor working at Microsoft was fired for talking about “Xbox’s shoddy manufacturing processes” to Venture Beat.
If you have to talk, at least do it anonymously, or better yet, wait until you are working someplace else. Odds are highly likely that the contractor is now “black listed” and even though the “black list” does not officially exist and no one will talk about it, Seattle is a very small town when it comes to technology, and as hiring managers start looking at your history in Google, well that venture beat article and its aftermath are going to be all over Google when someone searches on the name.
While there is good and bad on this one, good that the person felt compelled to speak, this is not the first time that Microsoft has fired a contractor for speaking out or blogging or any other host of things along the way. There is a long track record on this one going back to 2003; employers take a dim view of employees speaking out about their product. Regardless of truth, contractors are often in a precarious situation with a company already. They are considered temporary, no matter how permanent. They also do not get many perks; some contractor companies work you for 9 months with no break, and then give you the option of a week off, or an extra week’s paycheck, only to go back on the treadmill again. Breaking your NDA is just like stepping in front of a bus, there are many who would like your job.
Many points for being concerned, not many points for looking out for themselves and their future. If you have to whistle blow, if you just have to say something because of whatever reason, at least do it so that it cannot be tracked back to you. While the RROD (Red Ring of Death) issue/was huge in its day, right now it is not an issue, we already know it was manufacturing problems, we already know the story. On this one you have to question this whole story and you have to question the motivations of the contract employee, what were they really hoping to gain from this one?
Tags: Microsoft, contractor, fired, rrod, red ring of death, whistle blower, venture beat, idiot
