1,000 temps at Microsoft told to take seven days off without pay

More than 1,000 temporary Microsoft workers are taking a seven-day unpaid leave in a move meant to keep the company on budget as it nears the end of its fiscal year.

"It's just a little over 1,000 workers globally that do this kind of noncritical work, and all we're doing is deferring that work for a short period of time so that [Microsoft] groups can make sure they're being fiscally responsible in their budgets," said Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos.

The furlough affects the so-called "orange badges" — temporary workers employed by staffing companies that contract with Microsoft and distinguished from their permanent counterparts, who wear blue identification badges.

Gellos did not know how many workers in the region would be affected or how much money Microsoft expected to save, describing it as "a fairly small thing."

Microsoft notified the companies at the beginning of the month that it would not need their services for a total of seven days in May.

"They could have let us know a little bit earlier," said Bill Wilson, a temp whose employer notified him officially Thursday, the same day Microsoft announced new perks for its permanent employees. "It would have been a thing worth planning around," he said.

Gellos said the furloughs and the perks for permanent employees "are just totally not related to each other."

Some divisions at the company "just want to make sure that they're being responsible to their budget as the end of the year is approaching and just want to make sure we're not going overboard," he said.

Gellos emphasized the company is not over budget. Its 2006 fiscal year ends June 30.

Microsoft surprised Wall Street in April, reporting third-quarter earnings below its own guidance and outlining some $2 billion in additional spending planned for fiscal 2007.

At that time, Microsoft also revised down its earnings guidance for 2006.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said the company appears very focused on meeting that revised guidance.

"Two bad quarters in a row is not something that they're looking for," he said.

Rosoff added that the cost savings from the furlough would be "a minor blip" next to Microsoft's $10 billion revenue forecast for the quarter.

The savings could become significant if the temporary staff reduction was focused in one or a few divisions that may be under pressure to meet financial targets, he said.

Benjamin J. Romano: 206-464-2149 or bromano@seattletimes.com