Microsoft lay-off rumours "grossly exaggerated"

Company has other cost-cutting measures in mind

7 January 2009 12:05 GMT / By Verity Burns

A new report has challenged reports that Microsoft is preparing to make significant redundancies across its workforce, instead claiming that the Xbox manufacturer has other cost-cutting measures in mind.

Rather than the rumoured 15,000 redundancies, CNBC claims that the company will instead be cutting its outgoings through "attrition and the non-renewal of contract employees, rather than through a rumoured sweeping layoff".

Microsoft has apparently said the speculation around the rumoured lay-offs have been "grossly exaggerated".

However cuts are rumoured to have already begun, with 180 contract workers supposedly informed a month ago that their services would not be required in 2009.

Still, that's much fewer than the original number suggested by the rumours. Interestingly, the two blogs at the centre of these redundancy whispers have now changed their initial story and stated that the lay-offs could well come from Microsoft's "agency staff", or contractors.

CNBC’s source has claimed that Microsoft had considered aggressive money-saving strategies, but that while these plans may still come to fruition in the future, the company is keen to reduce costs in other ways.