India, July 11 -- Microsoft has laid off more than 15,000 employees in recent months. A glance at this sort of a headline would lead you to believe the world of tech was again in a tail-spin. After all, that is how it's panned out over the years, also smartly leveraged by enterprises worldwide to strike fear in the hearts of the workforce. Look a little closer this time, and official US government data indicates that Microsoft has requested 14,181 applications for specialty visas (H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 types) so far in the financial year 2025. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of jobs - this may well be a replacement and relocation, perhaps with an assumption of reduced cost. At the cost of panic, everywhere else. Tone deaf approach, one ...