Microsoft withdraws from China, all layoffs? "Dead butcher Zhang, don't eat hairy pigs"!

The truth of Microsoft's "withdrawal from China" is actually an industrial transformation and domestic substitution behind an oolong.

"Microsoft withdraws from China! All layoffs! On April 7, 2025, this explosive news suddenly swiped the screen on social platforms. Some people lamented the "retreat of foreign capital", some people shouted "the rise of domestic production", and some people turned out the common saying "Dead butcher, don't eat hairy pigs" to express confidence in domestic substitution.

But what is the truth? What kind of signal of the times is reflected behind this turmoil?

1. Oolong incident: It is the outsourcing company that lays off employees, and Microsoft China is still operating

1. Where do the rumors come from

On the morning of April 7, a screenshot of an email marked "Microsoft stops operating in China" went viral on social platforms. The email said that due to "geopolitical and international business environment changes", Microsoft will stop its China business on April 8, causing an uproar. However, the truth soon emerged: the email was not from Microsoft, but from its outsourcing company, Wicresoft, an internal notice.

2. Microsoft urgently refutes the rumors

A spokesperson for Microsoft China has repeatedly clarified: "The report of stopping operations in China is untrue. Microsoft's official website in China, Azure cloud services, and Xbox game business are all operating normally, and Microsoft employees in Suzhou, Beijing and other places have also confirmed that they have not received layoff notices.

The real impact is MicroPort's 2,000 employees, Microsoft's first joint venture in China (founded in 2002), but it mainly undertakes outsourcing projects such as Office technical support and cloud computing services.

3. The real reason behind the layoffs

MicroPort employees revealed that the layoffs were for the project team dedicated to serving Microsoft, and the compensation plan was "N+1+2,000 yuan signing fee".

The immediate trigger was the U.S. Data Security Act of 2024, which requires restrictions on transactions involving the data of U.S. citizens.

In early 2025, Microsoft announced that it would invest $3 billion in data centers and AI infrastructure in India, and shift some of its business from China to Vietnam, Hungary and other places.

Second, the metaphor of "hairy pigs": domestic substitution has already quietly risen

"Dead butcher, don't eat hairy pigs" – this proverb vividly illustrates the resilience of the Chinese market. The retreat of Microsoft's outsourcing team seems to have a huge impact, but in fact it exposes an overlooked fact: the "de-Microsoftization" of China's IT industry has already begun.

1. Office software: WPS's counterattack

Ten years ago, Microsoft Office almost monopolized the Chinese market. But now, with its free strategy and localization functions (such as PDF conversion and cloud collaboration), the number of users has exceeded 500 million, and government and enterprise procurement account for more than 60%.

A white-collar worker in Shanghai said frankly: "The company fully replaced WPS last year, except for occasional format compatibility problems, the daily office is completely sufficient." ”

2. Operating system: HarmonyOS breaks the monopoly

Microsoft Windows used to be the absolute dominance of Chinese PCs, but Huawei's HarmonyOS system quickly seized the market through the "multi-terminal collaboration" function (seamless connection of mobile phones, tablets, and computers). In 2024, the pre-installed volume of HarmonyOS PC will exceed 10 million units, especially in the fields of government affairs and education, with a penetration rate of more than 30%.

An installer in Zhongguancun, Beijing, said: "Three out of ten young people who are installing machines now want to be Hongmeng. ”

3. Cloud computing: Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud's conquering cities

Although Microsoft Azure leads the global market, its share in China is less than 10%, far behind Alibaba Cloud (40%) and Tencent Cloud (20%).

The technical director of an e-commerce company in Zhejiang revealed: "We switched from Azure to Alibaba Cloud in 2019, the price is 30% cheaper, and the customer service response speed is faster. ”

3. Labor pains and opportunities: the real situation of ordinary people

In this oolong incident, the most injured person is the employees of MicroPort. On April 7, employees in the Shanghai and Wuxi offices left with cardboard boxes, and some people laughed at themselves for "waking up and having no work". But there is also a turning point in the crisis.

1. Ordinary people who have been made redundant

The technician's dilemma: A technical support engineer who has worked in MicroPort for 5 years said: "Our team specializes in the localization of Office, and now Microsoft has moved its business to Vietnam, and it is difficult for us to find a corresponding position for our skills." ”

Unexpected opportunities: There are also employees who seize the compensation (N+1 about 100,000 yuan) to transform, such as changing to cross-border e-commerce or joining a domestic software company. A former project manager said, "WPS is expanding, and they need people who are familiar with the logic of office software. ”

2. The war for domestic enterprises

After the news of the layoffs came out, Huawei, Kingsoft, Alibaba and other companies quickly launched "Microsoft talent priority" positions on the recruitment platform. Huawei's HarmonyOS team even offered the benefit of "getting a Mate 80 mobile phone when you join the company".

A headhunter revealed: "Technicians who are familiar with Microsoft's ecology will have an average salary increase of 30% when they change jobs. ”

Fourth, the torrent of the times: the ebb tide of globalization and independent and controllable

The retreat of Microsoft's outsourced teams is not an isolated incident. Since 2024, Apple has shifted 30% of its iPhone production capacity to India, and Tesla has laid off 20% of its Shanghai factory. Behind these changes are two major trends:

1. Geopolitics tear globalization apart

Policies such as the Data Security Act in the United States and the Digital Sovereignty Act in the European Union have forced multinational companies to disperse their supply chains to multiple countries. Microsoft's relocation of its AI R&D center to India is both a cost consideration and a political risk avoidance.

2. China accelerates "independent and controllable"

From chips (Yangtze River Storage) to databases (OceanBase), domestic substitution has penetrated into every link of the industrial chain. The 2025 government work report clearly states: "In the next five years, the localization rate of key software will exceed 70%. An expert from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said: "Microsoft's outsourcing business has withdrawn, but it has made room for domestic software." ”

5. Future prospects: no one is irreplaceable

Looking back at this turmoil, the most worthy of thought is not "whether Microsoft will withdraw", but that the Chinese market has long been out of the era of "looking up to foreign capital".

For ordinary people: technological iteration may bring short-term pain, but the rise of domestic production has created more high value-added jobs (such as the average monthly salary of Hongmeng system developers is 25,000 yuan).

For enterprises: The model of relying on foreign foundry is unsustainable, and it is necessary to make breakthroughs in core technologies (for example, WPS has deployed AI writing assistants).

To the country: This oolong is a wake-up call, reminding us that the fragile links in the industrial chain still need to be strengthened (for example, industrial design software still relies on Europe and the United States).

epilogue

"Dead butcher, don't eat hairy pigs" - the modern version of this saying should be interpreted as: instead of worrying about who is evacuating, it is better to focus on practicing the "pig killing craft".

The reason for withdrawing is that you can't make money, and if you have money, you won't withdraw. The reason we can't make money is because we have alternatives.

When China can cultivate more "Zhang butchers" on its own, hairy pigs will naturally have nowhere to hide.