Microsoft's got a LOT of fat accumulated over the many years. They got royally stagnated under Ballmer, too much office politicking, designing by committee - all especially true in the management layers. This is what Nadella is purging. Not "high-performing older employees" specifically.
But those are the ones that it easier to target so they are the ones managed out not the career politicians.
Nadella should have been fired by the board over that "karma" fiasco if you fuck up that badly when at an internal event where some one throws you a soft easy Q you couldn't be trusted run a whelk stall (I suppose hot dog stand is the US equivalent)
