Microsoft Cuts 9,000 Jobs Amid AI Push, Raising Questions About Tech Industry's Future

Former and current Microsofties react to the latest layoffs

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs has triggered an outpouring of emotion from inside and outside the company, with at least one former staffer asking, "How many billions must be burned in the AI furnace before this stops?" To be clear, Microsoft has not stated the latest round of cuts is anything to do with its obsession with all things AI, however, axing more than 9,000 from the workforce is an interesting approach from a business which insists that implementing Copilot tech means customers can boost productivity "rather than cutting headcount." Former Microsoft staffer, Ned Pyle, summed up the feelings of many with a simple question on the Bluesky social media platform: "jfc again?" "How many billions must be burned in the AI furnace before this stops?" Pyle, a former principal program manager at Microsoft and now Enterprise Storage Officer at Tuxera, is famous for his efforts to eliminate the outdated and insecure SMBv1 protocol. Current Microsoft staffers have also been left aghast at the latest bloodletting. Veteran Microsoft engineer Larry Osterman wrote: "I know some folks in Xbox who are terrified," and added, "We *think* our team is likely safe after a 10 percent haircut last time around, but it's scary." Those Xbox folk were right to be terrified. According to Bloomberg, the company's King division, which makes Candy Crush, is cutting 10 percent of its staff. Games such as Perfect Dark and Everwild have been cancelled, and the studio behind Forza Motorsport is also on the receiving end of staff reductions. In answer to the question of who will be left at Microsoft once the culling is complete, one staffer, a purveyor of ceramic dinosaurs who goes by the handle of @threddyrex.com, commented, "it'll be three copilots in a trench coat running the show." While Microsoft might insist the layoffs are all about optimizing its operations and implementing "organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," some observers are not so sure. Cybersecurity expert, and slayer of the WannaCry malware, Marcus Hutchins, remarked, "Yet more companies laying off employees not because AI is replacing them, but because they need more money to fund their AI. "I can't remember the last time I saw sunk cost fallacy at this scale." The beatings seem set to continue until AI adoption improves. ®

Microsoft to Lay Off About 9,000 Employees

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it will lay off roughly 4 percent of its work force, or about 9,000 people, in another indication of the tightening job market at big technology companies. The layoffs follow a reduction of about 6,000 positions in May. Microsoft had 228,000 employees at the end of June 2024, its most recent disclosure. Though the outlook for the economy has been shaky in recent months, Microsoft has continued to produce multibillion-dollar quarterly profits. Its last earnings report showed unexpected strength, and investors have driven its market valuation up to almost $3.7 trillion. But Microsoft is in the middle of an expensive investment in artificial intelligence, including spending billions to lease and build data centers to support the demand for cloud computing and A.I. The cuts were also a sign that Microsoft's A.I. development may be having an impact on the size of its own work force. Microsoft's A.I. product for coding and software development, called Github Copilot, now has more than 15 million users, and executives have marveled publicly about how effective it has become. Executives at a number of other tech companies have hinted that they expect A.I. to replace some of their workers. Andy Jassy, Amazon's chief executive, told employees last month that he expects its corporate work force would shrink in the coming years "as we get efficiency gains from using A.I. extensively across the company." The tough outlook for rank and file tech workers stands in contrast to the intense competition for top A.I. researchers. Meta, for example, has been heavily recruiting top researchers, dangling job offers that on one occasion hit $100 million. (The New York Times has sued Microsoft and its partner OpenAI, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied the suit's claims.) The cuts were widely expected internally, as Microsoft started its new fiscal year on Tuesday. They span geographies and roles at the company, including teams that work in sales and the company's video game business. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," the company said in a statement. Phil Spencer, who leads Microsoft's video game business, said in a note to his division on Wednesday that the cuts were part of "the discipline to prioritize the strongest opportunities" and focus on areas with the most potential. Along with other big tech companies, Microsoft executives have been talking in recent months about trying to reduce bureaucracy and having each manager oversee more people. In a call with investors at the end of April, Microsoft finance chief Amy Hood said the company was "increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers." Managers were trimmed in the previous round of layoffs, but they were not the primary target. Instead, software engineers and individual product managers bore the brunt of the cuts, according to data from Microsoft's home state of Washington published by the Seattle Times.

Microsoft to cut up to 9,000 jobs as it invests in AI

Microsoft has confirmed that it will lay-off as many as 9,000 workers, in the tech giant's latest wave of job cuts this year. The company said several divisions would be affected without specifying which ones but reports suggest that its Xbox video gaming unit will be hit. Microsoft has set out plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), and is spending $80bn (£68.6bn) in huge datacenters to train AI models A spokesperson for the firm told the BBC: "We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace."

Microsoft Just Fired About 9,000 People While Making Billions

The tech giant is posting staggering profits and leading the AI revolution. Microsoft is laying off thousands of employees, even as its profits and stock price hit historic highs. For many worried about the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence, the message is chilling: performance and profitability are no longer protections against the axe. The software giant, which is playing a central role in the generative AI boom, confirmed to Gizmodo on Wednesday that it is undergoing another major round of layoffs. While Microsoft did not provide an exact figure, only saying it's less than 4% of its workforce, Gizmodo estimates the total cuts at approximately 9,000 jobs based on internal announcements and previously reported reductions throughout the year. The company last disclosed its global workforce at 228,000 employees as of June 2024. Here’s how the layoffs have unfolded so far: Fewer than 1 percent of staff were cut in January (performance-related), more than 6,000 jobs were eliminated in May, 300 more in June. With this latest wave, Gizmodo calculates the total cuts for July to be around 8,777 jobs, or just under 4 percent of the global workforce. “We continue to implement organizational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,†a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, without providing further details. The cuts are impacting a range of levels, departments, and geographies. A source familiar with the matter told Gizmodo that Microsoft’s gaming division, which includes Xbox, is among the areas affected. The timing of the layoffs stands in stark contrast to the company’s financial performance. Microsoft is the second-most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, trailing only Nvidia. It is also in excellent financial shape. In the most recent fiscal quarter: its net income jumped 18 percent to $25.8 billion, the company announced in April. Revenue climbed 13 percent to $70.1 billion. “Cloud and AI are the essential inputs for every business to expand output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth,†said CEO Satya Nadella in April. “From AI infrastructure and platforms to apps, we are innovating across the stack to deliver for our customers.†That innovation may also be making thousands of jobs obsolete. While Microsoft has not officially linked these job cuts to its rapid adoption of AI, the timing raises questions. At Meta’s LlamaCon conference in April, Nadella told CEO Mark Zuckerberg that 20 to 30 percent of Microsoft’s code is now written by AI tools. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott has gone even further, predicting that by 2030, AI will write 95 percent of all code used at the company. The tech giant has invested billions in generative AI, most notably through its close partnership with OpenAI. That includes integrating large language models like GPT into Microsoft Office, GitHub, Azure, and Windows products. These tools are capable of writing, debugging, and deploying code, as well as handling administrative tasks, customer support, scheduling, and more. The company is betting that these technologies will reshape how work is done. But for many employees, especially in tech, AI is already replacing tasks and jobs. Across the industry, executives are now openly admitting that AI is shrinking their headcounts. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently said AI is doing “50 percent of the work†at his company, just before announcing another 1,000 job cuts. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said AI has allowed the fintech firm to reduce its workforce by 40 percent. IBM and Duolingo have also confirmed that they are replacing teams or functions with AI systems As AI tools become more capable â€" and cheaper than full-time employees â€" companies may continue to shed workers even while reporting record growth. Microsoft’s latest move only reinforces that trend. For now, the company insists it is simply restructuring to stay competitive. But for workers watching AI generate code and copy â€" and executives celebrate those gains â€" the writing may already be on the wall.

Microsoft lays off 9,000 in AI drive, bringing total job cuts to 15,000 this year

Microsoft announced today it will cut approximately 9,000 jobs, representing just under 4% of its global workforce, in its largest round of layoffs since 2023. The reductions, which span multiple divisions, geographies, and levels of seniority, come as the company continues to report robust financial results but seeks to streamline operations and adapt to rapid shifts in the technology landscape. Despite posting an 18% year-over-year increase in net income last quarter -- reaching $25.8 billion -- Microsoft is moving ahead with significant headcount reductions. The company cited a need to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles. In its official statement, Microsoft said: "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace." The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring effort that has now seen over 15,000 jobs eliminated this year, including 6,000 positions in May. This latest round is expected to impact sales, customer-facing roles, and the Xbox gaming division. Xbox head Phil Spencer told staff the company would "end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness." Microsoft's move reflects a wider trend among major technology companies, many of which are undergoing similar workforce reductions as they double down on artificial intelligence. The company has invested billions in AI infrastructure, and CEO Satya Nadella recently noted that up to 30% of Microsoft's code is now written by AI tools. While Microsoft has not directly attributed the layoffs to AI replacing human workers, the timing and focus of the cuts suggest a shift toward a leaner, more automated organization. The layoffs underline that the job market in tech is tightening even as companies like Microsoft continue to deliver strong earnings.

Microsoft to cut 9,000 jobs as chatbots take over

Microsoft is cutting 9,000 jobs as executives order staff to delegate more work to artificial intelligence (AI). The $3.6 trillion (£2.7 trillion) technology giant will shed 4pc of its workforce, it confirmed on Wednesday, with redundancies hitting divisions including its Xbox arm and King, its mobile games studios. The job losses follow a round of cutbacks in May, when Microsoft laid off 6,000 staff including hundreds of middle-managers and engineering roles. The technology business had more than 228,000 employees at the end of its last fiscal year. "We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesman said. The cuts come after Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, claimed that up to 30pc of the company's code was now being written by AI bots. Executives have been pushing staff to adopt more AI tools to speed up their work. Julia Liuson, the president of Microsoft's developer division, recently told managers to consider whether an employee was using AI enough as part of their performance reviews, according to Business Insider. "Using AI is no longer optional," she said in an email. "It's core to every role and every level. AI should be part of your holistic reflections on an individual's performance and impact." Threat to entry-level jobs The job cuts come amid growing fears that entry-level and engineering roles risk being replaced by AI bots. Tools such as ChatGPT can write emails or reports in plain English, generate code or create graphics and pictures. While tech executives have promised AI will help create more jobs than it destroys, there are already signs that some roles are disappearing from the jobs market. Software vacancies have fallen sharply since ChatGPT was released in November 2022. Executives are increasingly demanding programmers augment their roles with AI bots that can generate code themselves.

Microsoft cuts 9,000 jobs as tech giant bets on AI

Microsoft began sending out layoff notices Wednesday, hitting the company's Xbox video game business and other divisions. Among those losing their jobs are 830 workers tied to the tech giant's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, according to a notice sent to state officials Wednesday. Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division, part of "organisational changes" needed to succeed in a "dynamic marketplace." A memo to gaming division employees Wednesday from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said the cuts would position the video game business "for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas." Xbox would "follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," Spencer wrote. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of June 2024, the last time it reported its annual headcount. Its latest layoffs would cut fewer than 4% of that workforce, according to Microsoft. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it's unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost. Either way, a 4% cut would amount to somewhere in the range of 9,000 people. Until now, this year's biggest layoff was in May, when Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years. The cutbacks come as Microsoft continues to invest huge amounts of money in the data centres, specialised computer chips and other infrastructure needed to advance its AI ambitions. The company anticipated that those expenses would cost it about $80 billion (€67.8bn) in the last fiscal year. Its new fiscal year began Tuesday. Microsoft just last month cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond headquarters, on top of nearly 2,000, also in Washington state, who lost their jobs in the Puget Sound region in May. Most of these staff worked in software engineering and product management roles, according to information the company sent to Washington state employment officials. Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on "building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers." The company has repeatedly characterised its recent layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers, but the May focus on cutting software engineering jobs has fuelled worries about how the company's own AI code-writing products could reduce the number of people needed for programming work. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this year that "maybe 20-30% of the code" for some of Microsoft's coding projects is probably written by software. The latest layoffs, however, seemed centred on slower-growing areas of the company's business, said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. "They're focused more and more on AI, cloud and next-generation Microsoft and really looking to cut costs around Xbox and some of the more legacy areas," Ives said. "I think they overhired over the years. This is Nadella and team making sure that they're keeping with efficiency, and that's the name of the game on Wall Street." The trimming of the Xbox staff follows Microsoft's years-long expansion of the business surrounding its gaming console, culminating in 2023 with the $75.4bn (€63.86bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard -- the California-based maker of hit franchises like Call of Duty and Candy Crush. Before that, in a bid to compete with Sony's PlayStation, it spent $7.5bn (€6.35bn) to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Maryland-based video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. Many of those game studios, which have locations across North America and Europe, were struggling with the layoffs on Wednesday, according to social media posts from employees who announced they were looking for new jobs.

Microsoft cuts 9000 workers in second wave of major layoffs

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Microsoft began job cuts that will impact about 9000 workers, its second major wave of layoffs this year as it seeks to control costs while ramping up on artificial intelligence spending. Less than 4 per cent of the company's total workforce will be impacted, a spokesperson said. The cuts will have an impact across teams, geographies and tenure and are made in an effort to streamline processes and reduce layers of management, the spokesperson added.

Microsoft to Cut 9,000 Workers in Second Round of 2025 Layoffs

Microsoft will lay off nearly 4 percent of its workforce, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, had announced layoffs in May, affecting around 6,000 workers. It was planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, Bloomberg News reported last month. The Windows maker had pledged $80 billion in capital spending for its fiscal year 2025. However, the soaring cost of scaling its AI infrastructure has weighed on its margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year. Microsoft said on Wednesday it planned to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles.

Microsoft's largest layoff in years hits Xbox, sales and other divisions

Microsoft is firing thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years. The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company's Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago. Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," it said in a statement. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer also sent a memo to employees Wednesday that said the cuts would position the video game business "for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas." It would also "follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," Spencer wrote. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it's unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost. Until now, this year's biggest layoff was in May, when Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spent heavily on artificial intelligence. Microsoft also cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond, Washington headquarters in June, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the Puget Sound region in May, according to notices it sent to Washington state employment officials. The layoffs announced in May were heavily focused on people in software engineering and product management roles, according to lists the company sent to employment agencies in Washington and California -- where the cuts also hit Microsoft offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on "building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers." The company has repeatedly characterized its recent layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers, but the May focus on software engineering jobs has fueled worries about how the company's own AI code-writing products could reduce the number of people needed for programming jobs. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this year that "maybe 20, 30% of the code" for some of Microsoft's coding projects "are probably all written by software." The latest layoffs, however, seemed centered on slower-growing areas of the company's business, said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. "They're focused more and more on AI, cloud and next-generation Microsoft and really looking to cut costs around Xbox and some of the more legacy areas," Ives said. "I think they overhired over the years. This is Nadella and team making sure that they're keeping with efficiency and that's the name of the game in Wall Street."

Microsoft's recent round of layoffs to impact about 4% of its workforce

Nearly three months after celebrating its 50th anniversary, Microsoft is laying off about 4% of its workforce, the company said Wednesday. The tech giant intends to reduce organizational layers by having fewer managers and streamlining its products, procedures and roles, Microsoft said, according to Reuters. The layoffs, which will affect employees across different teams, geographies and levels of experience, come on the second day of Microsoft's 2026 fiscal year, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson said, per CNBC, the Associated Press and the Seattle Times. Microsoft began sending out layoff notices to employees on Wednesday, July 2, according to the AP. The cuts will impact roughly 9,000 workers, CNBC and the Seattle Times reported. According to Reuters, the layoffs may be attributed to Microsoft's desire to cut costs as it continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence. Microsoft pledged $80 billion in capital spending for its fiscal year 2025. However, the increasing cost of its AI infrastructure has impacted its margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year, Reuters reported. Other big tech companies, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have also decided to lay off workers. Facebook parent Meta said earlier this year that it would lay off about 5% of its "lowest performers", while Alphabet's Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year. Microsoft's previous rounds of layoffs Microsoft announced in May that it would lay off around 3% of its entire workforce, with CNBC and The Verge reporting the decision would affect roughly 6,000 employees. In January, Microsoft cut less than 1% of its employees based on performance, CNBC reported. "At Microsoft we focus on high-performance talent," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in January. "We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action." Other notable layoffs from Microsoft occurred in 2023, when the company cut 10,000 jobs, and in 2014, when the company eliminated 18,000 jobs following the acquisition of Nokia's devices and services business.

Microsoft to Cut About 4 Percent of Jobs Amid Hefty AI Bets

Microsoft will lay off nearly 4% of its workforce, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, had announced layoffs in May, affecting around 6,000 workers. It was planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, Bloomberg News reported last month. The Windows maker had pledged $80 billion in capital spending for its fiscal year 2025. However, the soaring cost of scaling its AI infrastructure has weighed on its margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year. Microsoft said on Wednesday it planned to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles. The Seattle Times first reported on the layoffs earlier on Wednesday. Separately, Bloomberg News reported Microsoft's Barcelona-based King division, which makes the Candy Crush video game, is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 200 jobs. Big Tech peers, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have also announced job cuts. Facebook parent Meta earlier this year said it would trim about 5% of its "lowest performers", while Alphabet's Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year. Amazon has also cut jobs across its business segments, most recently in its books division. The company had earlier laid off employees in its devices and services unit, and communications staff. Economic uncertainties and rising costs have triggered layoffs across sectors in Corporate America, as companies rush to streamline operations and hedge against further cost pressures.

Microsoft layoffs hit 9,000 in new round, job cuts span teams and locations - here's who's affected

How big is this layoff compared to Microsoft's workforce? Microsoft currently employs around When combined, Microsoft has Why is Microsoft laying off 9,000 workers when it's making billions? This latest Microsoft layoff round in 2025 is part of a broader effort to streamline operations and reduce management layers. A spokesperson said via email, Which Microsoft teams are impacted the most? The Microsoft Gaming division, including Xbox, King, and ZeniMax, faces the brunt of the layoffs. In an internal memo, Xbox chief Phil Spencer wrote: "To position Gaming for enduring success, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and remove layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness." Sales, marketing, and middle management also targeted Beyond gaming, significant layoffs are hitting Microsoft's Where are the layoffs taking place? While the layoffs are global, certain patterns are emerging: This geographic targeting signals Microsoft's pivot toward low-cost, AI-driven hubs in Asia. An internal Microsoft source stated: "AI is driving how we think about teams. We want fewer layers, more execution." How is Microsoft stock reacting to the layoffs? Following the announcement, Microsoft shares dipped by around 0.6% during early Wednesday trading. In comparison, the S&P 500 remained flat. The slight drop may reflect short-term investor reactions, but not necessarily long-term concerns. Are other tech companies also laying off workers in 2025? Yes, Microsoft isn't alone in making workforce cuts in 2025. Several major players in the tech and software industry are also streamlining:

Microsoft Confirms Plan To Cut Thousands of Employees This Summer

The layoffs could mean upward of 9,000 employees being let go based on the tech giant's employee count from the end of the prior fiscal year. Microsoft has confirmed plans to cut less than 4 percent of its total workforce, which could mean upward of 9,000 employees being let go based on the tech giant's employee count from the end of the prior fiscal year. The Redmond, Wash.-based vendor started its 2026 fiscal year Tuesday and had been laying off thousands of employees in the final weeks of its 2025 fiscal year, with reports of a 3 percent employee reduction from May. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson told CRN in an email Wednesday. [RELATED: Microsoft Layoffs To Hit 9,000 Employees, Including Salespeople: Report] Early posts to Microsoft-owned LinkedIn showed that the Nuance division and employees related to compliance work may have been caught up in the latest round of layoffs. One LinkedIn user, a senior digital specialist who joined Microsoft with the 2022 acquisition of Nuance, posted Wednesday that she was notified about getting included in the July round of Microsoft layoffs. For solution providers, jobs vendors cut-in house could mean that work gets pushed to the channel. On the other hand, it could mean less resources for partners that specialize in the affected part of the vendor's portfolio. CRN reviewed posts by dozens of employees on Microsoft-owned social media network LinkedIn in May and June to see what parts of the tech giant were affected by cuts as the fiscal year came to a close. The cuts spanned software engineers, product managers and workers related to the tech giant's flagship Windows, Copilot and Azure offers. Some of the employees had worked with Microsoft for more than 20 years. On June 2, Microsoft told Washington state it expects to lay off about 300 locals starting Aug. 1, according to records. GeekWire reported that software engineers were about 22 percent of the cut roles -- followed by product management, technical program management and product marketing, each representing 10-plus percent of the cuts. On May 13, Microsoft told the state that about 2,000 employees would get laid off starting July 12. Software engineers made up more than 40 percent of those cuts, according to Bloomberg. Product managers were about 20 percent, followed by technical program management at about 11 percent. AI and Azure-related roles cut in May and June, as shown by LinkedIn posts, include: Roles related to Microsoft 365 that have been cut in May and June include: Windows-related employees caught up in the reduction in May and June include:

Microsoft Layoffs Are Funding Increased Spending in AI Infrastructure

Microsoft has laid off around 9K employees in the latest round of cuts, affecting 4% of the company's total workforce. According to The Seattle Times, this is all part of the company's mandate to trim and make room for increased spending in AI infrastructure. The report says it's not quite like one game developer from Halo Studios reckoned last week when they said Microsoft was doing its damnedest to replace personnel with AI agents. However, Microsoft is indeed cutting costs as much as possible to accommodate its planned expenditures of over $80 billion in this area, a $25 billion increase over the previous year. These investments are seen as more necessary than ever by Microsoft, with Open AI showing its fangs lately in what has become a complicated partnership. However, the cuts are weighing heavily on the company's reputation in other areas, such as gaming. Microsoft spent dozens of billions on gaming acquisitions, such as Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard, to expand its Game Pass subscription service library. Still, the user base didn't grow nearly as much as hoped, and analysts are now saying that Xbox might have bet on the wrong horse, since subscriptions do not hold the same appeal for gamers as they do for music or TV/film fans. Moreover, the industry's reaction to these latest layoffs was more scathing than ever before. Fourteen months after it shut down Tango Gameworks, which had released a successful and critically acclaimed game (Hi-Fi Rush), Microsoft cancelled a promising online looter shooter from ZeniMax Online Studios, the makers of The Elder Scrolls Online, one of the gaming division's top performers. Former developers railed against the decision, saying that the project was finally heading in a great direction, and there have been rumors that even Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had a blast while playing a vertical slice of Project Blackbird earlier this year. The only logical conclusion is that the executive did not wish to cancel the game himself, but may have received a mandate from above. Finishing Project Blackbird would have cost quite a bit, as it was just about to ramp up to production with an estimated late 2028 launch window, and Microsoft had other priorities - chiefly, bolstering its AI infrastructure. For gamers and developers alike, though, it's a shame.

Microsoft Cuts 8K Jobs in 2025's 4th Round of Layoffs | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The cuts will impact under 4% of the tech giant's workforce, a spokesperson for the tech giant told PYMNTS Wednesday (July 2). "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," the spokesperson said. While the company would not comment on the exact number of jobs involved, Microsoft in mid-2024 employed 228,000 people. Based on that figure and subtracting the other cuts the company has made this year, a 4% reduction would impact nearly 8,800 jobs. The company added that it has routinely "adjusted" its workforce to meet strategic demands "even in the best of times." The cuts are designed to increase agility by reducing management layers, with Microsoft saying it would "empower employees to spend more time focusing on meaningful work by leveraging new technologies and capabilities." These cuts follow a 1% performance-based reduction in January, plus 6,000 cuts in May and another 300 or so in June. A report on the layoffs by CNBC included a memo sent by Phil Spencer, Microsoft's CEO of gaming, to employees of that division Wednesday. "To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," Spencer wrote. The news comes amid reports of cuts at several other high-profile companies. A report last month from Seeking Alpha citing WARNTracker.com, a website that tracks layoffs, noted that JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo were all planning cuts. Walmart, meanwhile, announced in May it was planning to cut roughly 1,500 jobs across its eCommerce, fulfillment and tech divisions as part of a larger restructuring. In other Microsoft news, the company earlier this week announced that its Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) was able to correctly diagnose 85% of diagnostically complex cases published by the New England Journal of Medicine, versus a mean accuracy of 20% among the physicians included in a study. MAI-DxO also achieved correct diagnoses more cost effectively than the doctors, the company wrote on its blog. "For AI to make a difference, clinicians and patients alike must be able to trust its performance," the post said. "That's where our new benchmarks and AI orchestrator come in."

Microsoft to slash 9,000 jobs in latest brutal cut amid AI push:...

Microsoft said Wednesday that it will lay off about 9,000 workers in the software giant's latest round of brutal cuts this year. The layoffs will impact less than 4% of Microsoft's global workforce, impacting workers across different teams with varying levels of experience, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. Microsoft has already slashed thousands of positions this year as it focuses on cutting layers of management and shifting resources toward the artificial intelligence race. Bloomberg reported last month that Microsoft was planning job cuts in its sales division. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC. Meanwhile, Microsoft reported nearly $26 billion in net income and $70 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter, far outperforming Wall Street estimates. Microsoft did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. Its most recent layoff round in May slashed more than 6,000 jobs, or about 3% of its global workforce, as it eradicates middle management roles. The layoffs announced Wednesday similarly seek to reduce the layers between individual contributors and top executives, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. In January, the software giant axed less than 1% of its workforce based on performance in an attempt to keep up with cutthroat tech rivals, mimicking Elon Musk's "hardcore" approach. As of last summer, the company employed 228,000 workers. It cut 10,000 roles throughout 2023. Microsoft has led mammoth layoff rounds in the past, axing 18,000 roles in a single sweep in 2014 after acquiring Finnish telecommunications firm Nokia. The company is projecting strong revenue growth of 14% year-over-year as it expands its Azure cloud business and corporate software subscriptions. Shares in Microsoft have risen more than 17% so far this year. Meanwhile, the company is reportedly weighing whether to abandon its breakthrough partnership with Sam Altman's OpenAI. It has considered pausing talks with the ChatGPT maker if the two parties are not able to agree on the size of Microsoft's future stake in OpenAI, the Financial Times reported last month. The company will rely on its existing contract with OpenAI through 2030, according to the report. Several other software companies have trimmed their workforces this year, including homework helper Chegg and CrowdStrike, which suffered a massive outage last year that disrupted airlines, banks and the hospitality industry.

Major tech company announces mass layoffs leaving 9000 employees out of work

Thousands of Microsoft employees are expected to be out of work as the tech giant began its second major wave of layoffs this year and its largest initiative in more than two years. About 9000 workers are amongst the lay-off notices which Microsoft began pushing out overnight, impacting the company's Xbox video game business and other divisions. Microsoft has confirmed the cuts will affect teams across the company globally. The cut offs will scale off nearly 4 per cent of Microsoft's workforce to grapple with the soaring costs of artificial intelligence investments. It comes as the tech industry continues to struggle against the rapidly advancing AI race and the costs to upkeep training for large language models, building servers and data centres, or developing AI applications. The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, previously announced the termination of about 6000 workers in May. The plan was to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in the sales sector. However, the most recent layoffs are intended to reduce organisational layers with fewer managers in an effort to streamline its products, procedures and roles. The cuts will have an impact across teams, geographies and tenure, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday. Microsoft reportedly pledged to Wall Street it would put a halt on spending, after the company invested tens of billions of dollars on data centres and application development.

Microsoft announces another mass layoff, thousands of workers affected

is firing thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months. The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday. The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago. said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division and its Xbox video game business. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," it said in a statement. employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year. Until now, the biggest was in May, when began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spent heavily on artificial intelligence. also cut another 300 workers based out of its headquarters in June, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the region in May, according to notices it sent to employment officials. The layoffs announced in May were heavily focused on people in software engineering and product management roles, according to lists the company sent to employment agencies in and -- where the cuts also hit offices in the . Microsoft's chief financial officer said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on "building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers." The company has repeatedly characterized its recent layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers, but the May focus on software engineering jobs has fueled worries about how the company's own AI code-writing products could reduce the number of people need for programming jobs. CEO said earlier this year that "maybe 20, 30% of the code" for some of Microsoft's coding projects "are probably all written by software." Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. , source

Microsoft's largest layoff in years hits Xbox, sales and other divisions

is laying off thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years. The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company's Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago. said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division. "We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," it said in a statement. Xbox CEO also sent a memo to employees Wednesday that said the cuts would position the video game business "for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas." It would also "follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," Spencer wrote. employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it's unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost. Until now, this year's biggest layoff was in May, when began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spent heavily on artificial intelligence. also cut another 300 workers based out of its headquarters in June, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the region in May, according to notices it sent to employment officials. The layoffs announced in May were heavily focused on people in software engineering and product management roles, according to lists the company sent to employment agencies in and -- where the cuts also hit offices in the . Microsoft's chief financial officer said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on "building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers." The company has repeatedly characterized its recent layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers, but the May focus on software engineering jobs has fueled worries about how the company's own AI code-writing products could reduce the number of people needed for programming jobs. CEO said earlier this year that "maybe 20, 30% of the code" for some of Microsoft's coding projects "are probably all written by software." The latest layoffs, however, seemed centered on slower-growing areas of the company's business, said analyst . "They're focused more and more on AI, cloud and next-generation and really looking to cut costs around Xbox and some of the more legacy areas," Ives said. "I think they overhired over the years. This is Nadella and team making sure that they're keeping with efficiency and that's the name of the game in ." Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. , source