The Microsoft Layoffs are all over the news. The announcement that up to 18,000 would be let go over the next year got people’s attention. When you go through the various Microsoft announcements it doesn’t say that Microsoft is letting go of bad performers.

The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce. With this in mind, we will begin to reduce the size of our overall workforce by up to 18,000 jobs in the next year.

Microsoft is eliminating roles.

It’s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we are adding roles in certain other strategic areas.

So if you happen to be an amazingly good person with years and years of experience and Microsoft decides your role is no longer needed, then you could be one of those who has their role eliminated.

One of my good friends who has been at Microsoft 21 years had her role eliminated. At first it was sad that she had her role eliminated. Then in our e-mail discussion we discussed what she could next and how we could work together. Out of the 18,000 having their job reduced there are good people and some awesome. I have found one of the awesome ones, and there are many more.

There is a huge perception issue that because you are let go, you are a bad performer. Wrong. There are great people in those who were let go which is why there are dozens of recruiters ready to hire. Local Seattle News KiroTV covers some perspectives on the local job market.

“It's probably a good time to be laid off any time in the past 5 years,” said Hilwa.

Seattle tech companies can't hire people fast enough. Amazon continues to grow its empire in South Lake Union and tech giants like Google and Facebook continue to expand in Seattle.

University of Washington professor Ed Lazowska told KIRO 7 he sees the layoffs as a positive.

“I believe that those who are displaced from Microsoft in the Seattle area will rapidly find new employment in the field,” said Lazowska.