Well how about this. Seems the bean counters and the HR folks at Microsoft screwed up when they laid off some employees. Turns out they somewhat overpaid on those severance checks. Now the company is demanding that these terminated employees refund the company the money. A copy of the letters sent out to those employees can be found here.
Kudos to Techcrunch.com for bringing this up.
insult to injury
Microsoft is loaded with cash. They are just using this economic downturn to labor arbitrage more U.S. workers.
Corporations did the same thing in the 2000-2004 time frame.
Elevate America Program from Evil Bill
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10169001-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&ta...
Microsoft is announcing on Sunday a job training effort aimed at giving technical skills to as many as 2 million Americans over the next three years.
The most significant part of the program, in which Microsoft is offering free certification and other technical training, is being done in a phased approach, starting with Washington state. The second component of "Elevate America," available online immediately, is a Web site designed to help people with the basics such as creating a resume and send e-mail.
Passman
(Credit: Microsoft)
"Millions of individuals don't have the technology skills needed in today's economy. Through Elevate America, we want to help workers get the skills they need to succeed," Pamela Passman, Microsoft's VP for corporate affairs, said in a statement.
Microsoft's move comes as the United States has shed millions of jobs, a small number of which came from Microsoft itself as the company announced its first companywide layoffs last month.
As part of the Elevate America program, Microsoft is working with state and local governments and hopes to offer 1 million vouchers for e-learning and certification classes.
"At the federal, state and local level, leaders are working together to help start the engine of economic growth. The private sector provides much of the spark needed to jump-start that engine," Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "Washington state is pleased to be the first state to partner with Microsoft to provide Elevate America to our residents."
** would be better if they move all of their operation to India *****