Human resource planning implications for Microsoft
There was a time in the software development world when there was one and only one major employer that most desired- Microsoft. As the market leader, Microsoft made it a primary goal to recruit and hire the best and brightest talent in the market. They would be swamped at college fairs with one applicant after another who wanted to work for the premiere software company. Filling vacancies was easy -put out an ad that Microsoft was hiring and get them in and as such, the human resource planning process was rather simplistic. Venturing into new markets was not a problem – most everyone in the field wanted to work for the company. After all, it was Microsoft that made more millionaires out of its employees than any other company ever!
But this is changing. The best and brightest that have been hired are now leaving the company in groups. Unexpected resignations of key people are starting to cause some concern in the company. Companies like Google and Ebay are raiding Microsoft to hire away this talent pool. As a result, managers, marketing experts, and creative software developers are jumping ship. Many are upset about the internal infighting that occurs in the organization, as well as the compensation and benefits cuts they’ve experienced. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the one stable element of Microsoft has been its stock options and stock price. Lately, both of these have been lagging. As a result, employee morale is low.
Clearly Microsoft won’t go away. But as it moves into new markets, it needs to ensure that it will have the necessary talent available. But unless some visible corporate changes are made, meeting the demand for new employees may be a major constraint the company faces.
QUESTIONS:
- Describe the human resource planning implications for Microsoft.
- In your own opinion, could these dramatic resignations have been predicted by Microsoft management? Defend your position.
