Microsoft’s July round of musical chairs apparently has some employees still looking for a safe seat to land on. A report coming out of Re/Code details Microsoft executives who have either left the company, were scheduled to leave or have been moved to new positions with new titles, just this month.
Twenty-six year Microsoft VP veteran, David Treadwell, will now be shifted from his role on the Windows team to a new position in Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise division. Another longtime employee, Ales Holacek, who was reported to be heading up the Windows Experience development team, will now be ushered off to the Office division. Back in June, Ales Holacek was deemed the replacement for William Kennedy, who stood as the corporate VP of the Windows Experience development team. Fortunately, for Kennedy, Microsoft’s recent back tracking leaves him with the job, for now. As many employees begin to report to new heads, other longtime Microsoft employees are becoming understandably skittish about their positions with the company.
Last month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella issued a company-wide email detailing the expected layoff of over 7800 employees as well as the shuffling, restructuring and realignment of many of the company’s businesses and leadership positions. When all was said and done, a clear divide between Microsoft’s present and future was established. The Windows division, now representing the past and present, will now house hardware efforts while cloud and enterprise became a stronger network of businesses intended to fuel Microsoft’s future.
During the employee shake up, a multitude of Microsoft executives found themselves without a job within the company. The former head of Windows devices Stephen Elop, recent appointed marketing head Mark Penn and historical, technical leader Eric Rudder, all found themselves without jobs within the new Microsoft. Since former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his retirement two years ago, Microsoft has been in ‘realignment’ mode. It would be safe to assume at some point, the game of musical chairs will slow down at Microsoft.
Further reading: Cloud, Enterprise, Microsoft, Office, Satya Nadella, Windows
