Microsoft CEO gets little interest at meeting

Microsoft may have shown signs of significant problems with company morale after reports from the company's annual general meeting began surfacing in the past few days. The event, held as usual at Safeco Field in Seattle, saw "droves" of people leaving, according to well-known company insider Mini-Microsoft, even while CEO Steve Ballmer was speaking. Others pointed to unexciting demos and an obsession with Windows 8 tablets that didn't reflect core businesses.

"It was just too much to endure such painfully flat demos and lifeless speakers in their sleepy attempts to show excitement about our products and our future," one staffer said. "Is Win 8 tablet all we have left to be excited about? Has the morale across the company slumped so much that 20,000 of us together can’t even generate a decent applause?"

Other staffers also noticed a defensive tone from Ballmer, who wrapped up arguing that "Windows cannot lose." Workers noted that they were starting to see mass defections as team members quit once their portion of Windows 8 was finished. Others used tones often only reserved for Apple fans, noting that Ballmer is notorious for predicting the reverse of what will actually come true, such as assumptions that Microsoft would catch Google on search in a year or that the iPad and iPhone weren't threats.

Windows 8 has been very well received in the press along with Windows Phone's interface. Many have criticized Microsoft, however, for having little to rally around in its current lineup. The company didn't anticipate the iPad and won't have an answer until two years after the Apple tablet shipped. Xbox 360 devices are successful, but Windows Phone and Zune device sales have stayed flat or declined. Windows isn't in immediate danger but saw two consecutive quarters of revenue declines this year, an extreme rarity for Microsoft, that most have attributed to a mix of a tough economy and the iPad effect.

Some have pointed to Ballmer's genuine enthusiasm and general day-to-day business sense as important, but the reaction to the meeting has intensified calls for him to resign and nominate Steven Sinofsky, known well for turning around Microsoft divisions, as its new head. Ballmer's ratings at Glassdoor have dropped to 45 percent where the Apple and Google CEOs are almost universally praised. One employee heard an as yet uncorroborated rumor that Ballmer will be "invited to leave" Microsoft after Windows 8 ships. [via Seattle PI]

By Electronista Staff