Microsoft has detonated a frenzy of employees around the world to grab green cards
On May 15, a number of netizens broke the news that some Microsoft employees in China received an email from the company, asking if they were willing to move to other regions to work, including the United States, Australia, Ireland and other countries.
Employees involved include the AI platform's Azure ML team, etc., and employees who receive the email need to make a decision by June 7, and can also choose to receive severance compensation, and Microsoft US can also help with dependent visas.
As soon as the news came out, netizens began to discuss
In this regard, a Microsoft related person said that this is to give some employees an optional internal transfer opportunity, which will not affect the company's domestic operations.
Many people inevitably wonder, what is the meaning behind Microsoft's approach? Are employees going to be packed and taken away?
Looking back on 20 years of Microsoft China
Since opening a representative office in Beijing in 1992, Microsoft has been deeply rooted in China for more than 20 years. As one of the largest foreign-invested companies in China, Microsoft has been exploring and integrating into this complex and opportunity-filled market.
Microsoft's complex feelings about the Chinese market and users have never been a secret, from disdain, hostility, and incomprehension to integration and rooting, it has been exploring its own unique state of existence in China.
In conclusion, Microsoft's journey in China has been full of twists and turns, but it has struggled to adapt and fit into this dynamic market.
Microsoft's deep roots in China have even made American politicians unhappy. However, Microsoft has been exploring its unique state of existence in China and has not stopped to this day.
From the popularity of the Windows operating system to the wide application of Office software, Microsoft has been providing high-quality products and services to Chinese users. With the development of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other fields, Microsoft is also actively deploying.
Microsoft, as the world's leader in PC software development, has created many technological legends with a vision and pace beyond the times. In the era of AI, Microsoft is still at the forefront of science and technology, and its cooperation with Open AI has not only once again refreshed people's perception of artificial intelligence, but also explored more possibilities for artificial intelligence to empower people's daily lives.
According to the general manager of Microsoft China East China, up to now, nearly 10,000 Chinese enterprises have adopted the AI technology services provided by Microsoft, and Microsoft has provided more than 100 AI models for enterprises, covering many enterprises in the industrial and service industries.
This has also led to a rapid increase in Microsoft's business volume in China, and with the popularity of open AI, Microsoft has re-expanded its popularity, and its partnership with open AI has become more widely known.
After 20 years of development, the total number of employees in Microsoft China has exceeded 9,000 full-time employees, and 80% of them are R&D and engineering technicians. The branch covers 13 cities including Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Guangzhou.
After the news that Microsoft's artificial intelligence team in China will be packaged abroad, many employees also began to discuss, is this the rhythm of layoffs in disguise?
"Not considering the actual impact on employees"
Because the news came too suddenly, everyone was very confused, and more employees were very worried, making such a big choice in a short period of time, either dragging their families to work abroad, or leaving the company, in fact, it was a disguised layoff.
But in fact, there were some signs of this happening. At present, in terms of AI research, Microsoft is isolating China to a certain extent, and at Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, it is impossible to experience the beta version of some open AI products in advance, let alone access to the core of cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, face recognition, and synthetic media.
After such an important department is packaged abroad, the unimportant department will be directly laid off, and the AI-related China region can be shut down.
At present, their explanations and notification documents are all in English, indicating that there are indeed some employees who have the opportunity to be transferred.
But even so, there will still be employees who feel that this does not consider the actual impact on employees, such as family members have not been abroad before, it is difficult to adapt to the changes of foreign countries after moving out, and there are also big problems in language communication, whether the children can adapt to local education after going abroad.
Since 2019, after Microsoft chose to invest $1 billion in open AI, Microsoft's investment in the field of AI has been increasing, and Microsoft's total investment in open AI has exceeded $13 billion.
In addition, the company has also set up a dedicated Microsoft AI team, led by Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection, to comprehensively promote the Copilot project.
This is not the first time that Microsoft has transferred domestic experts or researchers abroad
In June last year, it was reported that Microsoft was moving AI researchers from Microsoft Research Asia from China to Vancouver.
This is because Microsoft will re-establish a new lab in Vancouver, Canada, to ensure that Microsoft AI research experts in China will be brought to the new lab.
Earlier, there was news that Microsoft Research Asia would withdraw from China, but Microsoft denied it at the time.
According to the analysis of industry insiders, Microsoft's big move is related to the global layout, out of business and strategic considerations. made such a decision.
The large investment in the Southeast Asian market may be due to the economic growth potential and transformation needs of the region, and the current domestic market competition is very fierce, so it will make Microsoft's investment strategy more cautious.
Microsoft's president has also previously said that China accounts for only 1.5% of Microsoft's sales. Coupled with the fact that Bing AI search cannot be implemented in China, it also makes Microsoft's action to isolate Chinese AI more obvious.
But if you have said that, it is really hard to say whether Microsoft's move this time will have an impact on China's AI intelligence industry.
Netizens frantically watched: envy, jealousy and hatred
Microsoft's action can be said to have detonated the Internet, and netizens have set off heated discussions in the comment area.
Some people directly expressed their desire to be taken away by Microsoft: "Microsoft, I don't want a salary, take me!" ”
Epilogue:
As soon as the news came out that Microsoft China was going to pack up AI employees and take them away, it immediately caused widespread discussion among netizens, and many netizens expressed their surprise at this. After all, Microsoft China has been developing in China for many years, and the implementation of this initiative will have a greater impact on Microsoft's business in China
How Microsoft will balance its global layout in the future is still the focus of many people's attention.
If you were a client, would you choose to be made redundant or transferred to another country? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss