Microsoft decided to shut down Skype office in London

 Microsoft decided to shut down Skype office in London

Apparently Microsoft has decided to shutdown their Skype office in London, it’ll cost near 400 people left their jobs. Financial Times: “even though this would unify some engineering positions, they’ll be entering into a consultation process to help the ones affected by this decision”

 Microsoft decided to shut down Skype office in London

Microsoft said: “We are deeply committed to doing everything, we can help those impacted through that process. Microsoft will be entering into a consultation process and offer new opportunities arise wherever possible.”This is big news and no doubt a blow to London’s tech scene as the London office is a key part of Skype’s history as it was the first engineering site and headquarters of the company before Microsoft actually acquired it in 2011 for $8.5 billion.

Skype will still maintain the offices at Redmond (US HQ), Palo Alto, Vancouver and several other locations in Europe. Microsoft is now likely to build Skype from Redmond that’ll help align their strategic vision for the future.

London: Technology giant Microsoft is planning to close its London office of Skype and to lay off most of the nearly 400 people employed there, a media report here said.

"Microsoft made the decision to unify some engineering positions, potentially putting at risk a number of globally focused Skype and Yammer roles," the Financial Times quoted Microsoft as saying.

Skype will still maintain offices throughout the world, including in Redmond, Palo Alto, Vancouver, and several locations in Europe But the layoffs indicate a shift in priorities, with anonymous former employees telling media that Microsoft has increasingly been taking control of Skype, replacing Skype's employees with its own.Skype was one of the first big voice chatting apps, but it's increasingly come under threat from basically all sides.

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger among others, offer the same features and have enormous user bases. Meanwhile, business tools like Slack are beginning to build in the features, like video chatting, that people have traditionally gone to Skype for.

Microsoft has made at least 150 acquisitions in its history, many of which it has dismantled and killed, including Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia’s handset division and advertising metrics company aQuantive. Microsoft has made at least 150 acquisitions in its history, many of which it has dismantled and killed, including Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia’s handset division and advertising metrics company aQuantive.

Last month, Microsoft’s annual report said it would terminate about 2,850 jobs globally in the fourth quarter of 2016, part of which will come from Skype’s London closure.