Duane Forrester broke the news on his personal blog this morning that Microsoft is in the midst of restructuring several divisions within the company, which has directly affected the Bing division.

Several Bing employees, including Forrester who had been with the company for 7 years, were laid off as a result of their positions being eliminated.

Microsoft announced changes within the structures of several groups in the company. My group was affected, and while I have natural concerns for my own future, I am now faced with saying goodbye to some talented friends and coworkers. It has been a pleasure to work beside, and learn from, these people. They are smart, dedicated and creative…not to mention a barrel of laughs!

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There has been an outpouring of support for Forrester, a long time friend of the SEO community, but also questions as to what this says about Microsoft, and if it will dampen the relationship between Microsoft and webmasters/SEOs.

As for Forrester, he is not bitter but grateful for what he accomplished during his time with Microsoft:

I have learned, made new friends, traveled, helped build successful products and in some small way, I think, helped make a difference, a positive difference, for businesses, consultants and SEOs worldwide. Tough to be bitter with anyone who enabled THAT in your life.

It’s still important to discuss the elephant in the room though, which is the fact that Microsoft laid off its top and most well known SEO. Not to mention it sounds like several others within his division were laid off as well. What do you think this means about Microsoft’s commitment to search going forward? What does the future of Bing look like?

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Here are some of the thoughts going around so far:

"I lost my job but not my perspective" by @DuaneForrester http://t.co/nc7ot3Rq33 > This shows that MS has *no* idea & interest in search — Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) October 30, 2014

By laying off @DuaneForrester, @Microsoft will have no presence at conferences and reinforce the view that @Bing is irrelevant. — Samuel Scott (@samueljscott) October 30, 2014

What do you think about this move by Microsoft? Let us know in the comments section.