Job cut rumours start to circulate.
By Maggie Holland, 2 Jan 2009 at 13:05
Microsoft is keeping tight lipped on speculation that it may cull as many as 15,000 employees later this month.
It may not turn out to be a very Happy New Year for some of the software giant’s employees if rumours of these mass-scale job cuts are to be believed.
Fudzilla reckons the company will shed staff on 15 January, suggesting that it’ll be workers at MSN and in Microsoft’s ranks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that will bear the brunt of the chop.
“Staff at Microsoft have been informed that the company is readying major layoffs to its worldwide operations and it's not a small cut, either,” claims the site.
“The layoffs will take place a week before Microsoft's Q2 earnings report, which takes place on the 22nd of January 2009, and it doesn't seem like the date set for the layoffs is coincidental.”
A Microsoft spokesman told IT PRO that the company does not comment on rumour or speculation.
While Microsoft is keeping mum on whether the job cuts will occur even in part, industry experts suspect the figures mooted thus far seem too big.
“Unless Microsoft's business has been absolutely crushed in the past two months, there is no reason for the company to suddenly cut this much cost…The only way we could see Microsoft laying off this many people is if the company decided to eliminate business units… Microsoft just hired a new head of MSN, and it is certainly possible that he will make some cuts. But 15,000 sounds extreme,” Henry Blodget wrote in a post in response to the rumours on the Silicon Alley Insider website.
“Could Microsoft trim some fat in two weeks? Absolutely. But a 17 per cent cut is more than fat.”
www.itpro.co.uk
Sunday, January 4, 2009
More police forces to benefit from mobile tech
£30 million scheme will save time and benefit citizens.
By Maggie Holland, 2 Jan 2009 at 12:35
Citizens are likely to see more police officers using mobile technology to cut red tape as the government has embarked on the second phase of the mobile information roll out.
As a result of the £30 funding (£5 million in addition to the £25 million detailed in a previous green paper), the initiative will be extended to benefit a further 25 forces and two agencies across England, Scotland and Wales.
By equipping more Bobbies with mobile devices, officers are likely to save up to half an hour per shift simply by being able to receive and transmit information while out and about – this equates to more time visibly policing rather than being stuck behind a desk doing paperwork.
"The successes of mobile information devices show how our investment in new technology is making crime fighting more effective and saving officers’ time,” said Policing Minister Vernon Coaker in a statement.
"They are just one element of a range of improvements we are delivering to cut unnecessary bureaucracy, exploit new technologies and enable police officers to spend more time on front line policing in communities across the country."
The ultimate aim is the distribution of 30,000 handheld computers by March 2010.
"This is great news for the police service. Phase one forces have shown how mobile computers are critical to a modern police officer. Officers who have access to databases, such as the Police National Computer, command and control and intelligence systems while out on patrol, are spending less time returning to the station and more time on the frontline - therefore increasing visibility and reassuring the public,” said Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), which manages the programme for the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
"Phase two of the initiative will build on this success and enable more officers to take advantage of the benefits of mobile devices."
www.itpro.co.uk
By Maggie Holland, 2 Jan 2009 at 12:35
Citizens are likely to see more police officers using mobile technology to cut red tape as the government has embarked on the second phase of the mobile information roll out.
As a result of the £30 funding (£5 million in addition to the £25 million detailed in a previous green paper), the initiative will be extended to benefit a further 25 forces and two agencies across England, Scotland and Wales.
By equipping more Bobbies with mobile devices, officers are likely to save up to half an hour per shift simply by being able to receive and transmit information while out and about – this equates to more time visibly policing rather than being stuck behind a desk doing paperwork.
"The successes of mobile information devices show how our investment in new technology is making crime fighting more effective and saving officers’ time,” said Policing Minister Vernon Coaker in a statement.
"They are just one element of a range of improvements we are delivering to cut unnecessary bureaucracy, exploit new technologies and enable police officers to spend more time on front line policing in communities across the country."
The ultimate aim is the distribution of 30,000 handheld computers by March 2010.
"This is great news for the police service. Phase one forces have shown how mobile computers are critical to a modern police officer. Officers who have access to databases, such as the Police National Computer, command and control and intelligence systems while out on patrol, are spending less time returning to the station and more time on the frontline - therefore increasing visibility and reassuring the public,” said Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), which manages the programme for the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
"Phase two of the initiative will build on this success and enable more officers to take advantage of the benefits of mobile devices."
www.itpro.co.uk
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