Microsoft's Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been appointed to a Federal Reserve task force on jobs despite her main qualification seeming to be ordering mass layoffs at the software giant's gaming division.
Microsoft’s Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been appointed to a Federal Reserve task force on jobs despite her main qualification seeming to be ordering mass layoffs at the software giant’s gaming division.that Asha Sharma, who assumed the role of CEO over Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division in February this year, has been named to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s task force on Productivity and Jobs.
The appointment comes just days after she announced sweeping cuts to Microsoft’s gaming division, described as the biggest in the company’s history. The timing of her selection has raised questions about Big Tech’s growing influence in governmental policy-making circles. The company will lay off 1,600 people from its gaming business this week and 1,250 more during the rest of the fiscal year that began this month, Xbox Chief Executive Asha Sharma said in a memo to staff Monday.
In addition, Microsoft is selling or spinning off four game development studios and exploring strategic options for a fifth. These moves will take at least 350 additional people off its payroll. Additional cuts will bring the total to just under 5,000 jobs slashed at the software giant. The cuts represent about 20 percent of the division’s total head count.
The Federal Reserve, under Chairman Kevin Warsh, recently established five new advisory groups designed to assess economic changes and determine optimal approaches to monetary policy. These task forces focus on Communications, Balance Sheet Policy, Data, Productivity and Jobs, and Inflation Frameworks. Each group is co-led by external advisors who provide independent insights and recommendations to the Federal Open Market Committee. In a press release, Chairman Warsh explained the rationale behind the initiative.
“The Federal Reserve’s commitment to price stability and maximum employment is unwavering. As is our resolve to pursue our mandate with rigor,” he stated.
“The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now. Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools, and policy approaches can be improved upon. ” He continued, “I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution.
The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time. ” The Productivity and Jobs task force, which Sharma will advise, is specifically tasked with assessing the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, including AI, to inform Federal Reserve policy judgments.
She will work alongside Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Charles I. Jones, a professor of economics at Stanford University who is currently on leave to collaborate with the Anthropic Institute on AI and economic future research. Sharma’s appointment has generated controversy for several reasons. She appears to be the only member actively serving as CEO of a major corporation’s division while advising the Federal Reserve.
Her inclusion represents a continuation of the trend toward greater Big Tech involvement in governmental policy discussions, a development that has drawn increasing scrutiny. The timing of the announcement has intensified criticism. The Xbox layoffs, which Sharma communicated to workers in advance as part of an upcoming reset, have become a defining moment in her brief tenure as CEO. The gaming industry is already facing disruption on multiple fronts, and the cuts have affected both employees and customers.
Sharma’s choice to lead Xbox was already controversial — the young woman has no experience in gaming.
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