TechWag

Briar Dudley of the Seattle Times posted an article that Microsoft insiders are reporting a hiring freeze for blue badges. Generally how Microsoft goes is how the technical employment opportunities go here as well. If Microsoft decides to stop hiring people, then this will either be an opportunity for the consulting companies that provide orange badges to either grow, or also face cutbacks.

If there is a flood of folks hitting the streets from Microsoft, there is not enough open positions in other systems like the State (which is in a hiring freeze for all but medical and essential fills), or startups. There is no way that Seattle right now could absorb people being let go in general.

Gellos said, “We’re hiring lots of people and we will this year” but couldn’t specify headcount growth. As of June 30, the company employed 91,259 people globally, including 39,311 in the state. Still, we’ve heard from several employees that there’s a freeze. Anyone care to share more details? Not the best story to report during an economic downturn. If Microsoft hiring slows significantly, it will hurt the Puget Sound region. Source: Seattle Times

I would bet though that Microsoft if they find the right candidate, one that fires on all cylinders and does amazing things will go ahead and hire them anyways regardless of any freeze or readjustment. The only problem really is that when these kinds of reports hit the paper, usually the best and brightest in an organization are the ones that have the most external opportunities, while the general contractor pool will be the ones that see the biggest cut backs.

Problematic, without much to go on other than rumor, if anyone has any news on this, give me a shout or hit up the Seattle Times, either way, this will be something that needs to get out.

Tags: Microsoft, hiring, freeze, reports, blue badge, orange badge, contractor, staff

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