This hasn’t been your father’s Microsoft or the Microsoft of the past for a long time now. I’m not sure Historical Microsoft can apply to anything they’ve been doing in the past 4-5 years.
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Maybe not but it’s probably healthy to be skeptical of a corporation’s motivations. I like Satya and really like Phil but, in the end, they’re beholden to the wishes of their shareholders and their shareholders alone. It’s a bit hard for me to believe that they’ll suddenly take a pro-union stance, particularly as no one has made any definitive statements even suggesting that they would.
Because no company likes unions.
A company “disliking unions” is mutually exclusive from actively working to bust unions.
I do wonder if departments within MS might’ve wanted to do this as well but MS blocked it or w/e then say well if they get to do it we want to and so on but I have no idea how any of this works.
But you bust the unions when don’t like them no?
That’s a reductive way of looking at it; the simple answer is “sure”, but the latter doesn’t automatically mean you’ll enact the former (in your scenario).
Yes, a bit of skepticism is healthy, but over relying on past behavior that hasn’t been their modus operandi recently isn’t useful.
As for unionization in Software Engineering fields, I’m not sure the software engineers will go for it. If only because they might see it as potential change where the lowest skilled software engineer (programmer) might end up making exactly the same amount of money as the ones with their Rockstar God Level Skills. It’s this overrating yourself and underrating others that I don’t see Unions being embraced in the Software/Programming field.
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With logic like that, the statement of “I don’t like politicians” would imply “I’m going to bust up politicians” …
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I have my fingers crossed that they allow it, but I have to see it happen. My dad is/was a union sheet metal worker (he still pays his dues) who got injured on the job in the early 90’s and the fact we didnt end up homeless is a direct result of the benefits that union provided. So I am a staunchly pro-union person.
But until the tides change, the best indication of future behavior is past behavior.
Edit: I should also provide the caveat that, to Microsoft’s credit, they take good care of their employees. So unionized or not, there is a good chance that MS will take care of the employees either way.
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I definitely recognize the nuance in decisions around union formation. However, any intentions to bust union organization should be stamped out with the full power of the government, imo.
That said, if a company decrease the demand for unions by increasing wages, creating a better work-life balance for their workers and implementing clear changes to improve other workplace conditions, I’m not exactly going to fault anyone for going that route. The end goal is ensuring that all employees are fairly compensated and treated with respect. If a union is needed to accomplish that, so be it. If it’s not then okay.
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Really interesting article I didn’t thought of that when I saw Netflix’s fall this week:
“The FTC and DOJ think that they can predict the evolution of digital markets,” WLF told the FTC to its regulatory face, as it were. “This is pure hubris that conflicts with reality and misunderstands how digital markets work. History also shows that the FTC and DOJ have no clue how digital markets will change. What once looked like a monopolist who should be barred from merging with any competitor may file for bankruptcy only five years later.”
Didn’t know this about Blockbuster:
To make its point, WLF pointed out that the FTC in 2005 sued Blockbuster to block its purchase of Hollywood Entertainment because it would have given the video-store chain too much market power. Enter Netflix’s announcement two years later that it would stream movies so folks no longer had to trek to the video store or worry about all the copies being snatched up before they got there.
Five years later, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. “It’s impossible to predict what will happen in the digital market,” WLF said in the filing. “If it were possible to envision Netflix’s emergence, the FTC would not have sought to decrease competition by ensuring Blockbuster’s demise. But that is what happened because the FTC is lousy at predicting future market share.”
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EDIT: Oh and ABK will have their earnings report this Monday.
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Microsoft has theirs on Tuesday. Should be an eventful week.
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Will ABK weak earnings report help the acquisition argument?
NPD report shows great sign of Xbox stock and sold, so hopefully, they can fill us in more insight of chip supply and what not.
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I doubt it from the regulators side but it probably makes it a necessity for shareholders. If the deal falls through the share price is likely to drop into the $50-55 range which would be a big hit. Would be even worse if the issue came from the AB side and they had to pay Microsoft $2bn
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There’s a serious case of Microsoft envy going around Silicon Valley. While Google parent Alphabet Inc. and its peers—Apple, Amazon, and Facebook—have been dragged through the political mud during the “techlash,” Microsoft has stayed clean. It sat out the marathon congressional hearings on the industry’s ills. New bills designed to curb tech’s market power don’t touch much of Microsoft’s business, even though it’s the U.S.’s second most valuable company.
well to be fair they got hit the hardest during the 2000’s to the point of them almost breaking up so no they do their best to not let that happen again
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For anyone not up to date - April 28th (today if you are in the UK) is the day the Activision shareholders are set to vote on the deal.
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