Instead of celebrating recently reported strong sales and profits, Microsoft is hitting its workplace where it hurts the most with sweeping layoffs. The tech giants claimed that it’s letting go of nearly 3% of its overall employee strength, which amounts to about 6,000 people across the world.
These numbers are said to mark the tech conglomerate’s biggest reported cuts since early 2023. At the time, Microsoft relieved almost 5% of the workforce, i.e. 10,000 workers. The brand-new job cuts come as a follow-up to a performance-based layoff round in January.
Employees impacted by Microsoft layoffs
According to Microsoft’s latest annual headcount data, the company witnessed an influx of 228,000 full-time workers as of June 2024. 55% (about 126,000) of those employees were US-based. The latest wave of organisational shake-up will see layoffs cutting out jobs across all levels on the global scale.
The prime focus, however, remains on slashing management levels, as also previous highlighted by chief financial officer Amy Hood on an April earning call. Noting that the employee numbers were 2% higher than the yesteryear stats, she said the company was aligned with “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
Back on April 30, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also emphasised how AI was transforming the professional setup. “Cloud and [artificial intelligence] are the essential inputs for every business to expand output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth,” he said. “From AI infra and platforms to apps, we are innovating across the stack to deliver for our customers.”
Microsoft job cut notices already out
“We continue to implement organisation changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” mentioned a company statement. Layoff notices out on Tuesday have already delivered the heartbreaking news to some employees.
Microsoft employees’ sad news streak comes weeks after the tech giant surpassed Wall Street’s earnings estimates for the past four consecutive quarters.