Microsoft research building in Redmond, Wash. Image from Flickr.

Microsoft confirmed that it’s laying off 800 more employees today. Along with that announcement come a couple of fun facts: not only are they ahead of their June 2010 deadline, they are ahead on numbers of people they planned to lay off!

So I guess laying off 5,800 employees isn’t so hard is it? The company announced in January that it would lay off 5,000 employees by June 2010. So the 800 people who were laid off today can rest assured that by cutting their jobs, Microsoft was going above and beyond the call of duty!

Sorry, I was quick to judge

Of course, I could be being overly cynical here. I suppose finishing the layoffs as soon as possible was perhaps to spare employees the mental anguish of wondering if they’d get the ax. Of course, it’s a little more agonizing to have to look for a job and wonder where your next pay day will come from, but I’m trying to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt.

As far as laying off an extra 800 employees, it is true that the economy has changed even since Microsoft’s announcement in January. Furthermore, Microsoft didn’t pinky swear that it would only fire 5,000 people, so I guess it’s off the hook.

The buzz online

Comments on a popular Microsoft blog based in Seattle, Wash., say that contract positions for Microsoft have started popping up on Washington’s unemployment web site. Microsoft is based in Redmond, Wash.

One commenter says “it looks to me like Microsoft is simply replacing full-time slots with contractor/vendor positions.” An interesting strategy, and probably not one that laid off employees or their families are too fond of. Other speculators believe that Microsoft will continue to lay people off, even though the company has reached its goal.