May has been a busy month for news in the IT world, with cyber attacks hitting retailers across the UK and Microsoft laying off over 800 developers.
In this episode of the ITPro Podcast, Jane is joined by news and analysis editor Ross Kelly to discuss three of the most significant news stories of the past month and wish Java a happy 30th birthday.
Highlights
“A significant portion of [the redundancies] are in Washington state, in the US, the heartland of Microsoft headquarters. It comes at quite an interesting period for Microsoft – they've been performing well, they’re really bullish on their AI investments at the moment. But again, another round of layoffs and it must be really demoralizing for people not only at Microsoft … but across the tech industry to see this still continuing.”
“[For] developers and engineers specifically, I think the writing has been on the wall. We've spoken about this a couple of times over the last year, when you look at big figures in the tech industry like Marc Benioff specifically on agentic AI talking about the fact that they might not have to hire any engineers in the second half of 2025 … you have to wonder where they're all going to go.”
“Last week, on the 21st M&S said hackers were able to essentially access systems by social engineering techniques at a third party contractor, [which] allowed them to circumvent M&S defenses and caused an absolute disaster, and again, it underlines the dangers of an increasingly interconnected software supply chain.”
“[Java’s] a programming language that's had remarkable longevity, still very popular. We covered something on this last year around the fact that … its popularity is still there very much. It's having somewhat of a renaissance, so to speak, in terms of organizations really scrambling to get Java developers.”
Footnotes
- Microsoft workers face a fresh round of layoffs – here’s who could be impacted
- Microsoft expects 1.3 billion AI agents to be in operation by 2028 – here’s how it plans to get them working together
- ‘Developers will need to adapt’: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reveals the scale of AI-generated code use
- Agentic AI is coming for customer service jobs
- CrowdStrike layoffs to hit 500 staff as firm targets strategic AI shift
- More than a third of UK tech leaders admit they’ve cut staff in favor of AI – but now they regret making hasty redundancies
- Why DragonForce is growing in prominence – with retailer attacks boosting its reputation
- M&S confirms customer personal data was stolen in recent attack
- Everything we know about the Co-op cyber attack so far
- ‘It’s far from showing its age’: Java might’ve just turned 30, but it’s still going strong and here to stay
Subscribe
- Subscribe to The ITPro Podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Subscribe to The ITPro Podcast on Spotify
- Subscribe to the ITPro newsletter
- Subscribe to the ITPro Podcast on YouTube
- Join us on LinkedIn
-
MIT study claims using AI tools impact cognitive functionNews A recent study from MIT suggests that using AI tools impacts brain activity, with frequent users underperforming compared to their counterparts.
-
Hackers are using this Microsoft 365 feature to bombard enterprises with phishing emailsNews A new phishing campaign uncovered by researchers at Varonis shows threat actors are abusing Microsoft 365's Direct Send feature to launch phishing attacks.
-
Data integration for open table formatsSponsored Podcast Open table formats can unlock huge benefits for IT leaders looking to get value out of their data
-
Report: OpenAI considered accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behaviorNews Negotiation tactics get tough between two previously tight partners, according to WSJ report
-
Fresh Microsoft layoffs hit software engineering roles, documents showNews The latest batch of layoffs at Microsoft's Washington headquarters mark the second in the space of a month.
-
Civil servants started using Microsoft Copilot to speed up admin tasks – here's what they foundNews Staff are using Microsoft Copilot to help draft documents and summarize meetings and emails
-
Microsoft workers face a fresh round of layoffs – here’s who could be impactedNews Microsoft will cut 6% of its workforce, equivalent to around 6,000 workers, as part of its latest cost-cutting drive.
-
‘You can see the horrible things that Microsoft did to Slack before we bought it’: Marc Benioff warns Microsoft could repeat 'pretty nasty’ Slack playbook with OpenAI amid frayed relationshipNews Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has claimed Microsoft did "horrible things" to Slack prior to its acquisition - and warned the company could be set to repeat its playbook with OpenAI.
-
Microsoft just hit a major milestone in its ‘zero waste’ strategyNews Microsoft says it's outstripping its zero waste targets, recording a 90.9% reuse and recycling rate for servers and components in 2024.
-
CyberOne appoints Microsoft’s Tracey Pretorius to its advisory boardNews The threat intelligence leader will provide strategic guidance to CyberOne’s executive team
