Microsoft kicks its ex-workers while they're down

by Stevie Smith - Feb 23 2009, 17:00

In a move that only adds insult to injury for recently culled Microsoft employees, an accounting oversight by the software outfit has seen laid-off workers issued with more monetary severance than they were supposed to receive.

As a result of the financial error, Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. has been forced to send letters to an unspecified number of its ex-employees informing them they will need to take a break from licking their unemployment wounds in order to return some of their compensation.

Microsoft has not said exactly how many people are being told to return part of their over-inflated packages, instead referring to the slip-up in as “a private matter between the company and the affected people.”

According to a letter obtained by industry watchers TechCrunch, Microsoft explains that overpayment occurred due to an “inadvertent administrative error,” which led to the resulting overpayment. “We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to you.”  

However, it’s not all bad news for those recently shown the door by Microsoft, with some ex-employees reportedly having received too little severance, which they will hopefully receive in due course.

Suffering through the current economic downturn alongside almost ever other technology heavyweight, Microsoft Corp. dropped 1,400 workers in January – which is the opening restructuring salvo in a planned 5,000 losses over the course of the next 18 months.

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