Microsoft has announced plans to lay off approximately 6,000 employees, representing 3% of its global workforce.
The spokespersons of the organisation stated this on Tuesday in a statement to CNBC.
The job cuts will affect employees across all levels, teams, and geographies.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,”
Despite reporting stronger-than-expected financial results, including $25.8 billion in quarterly net income, the company is moving forward with workforce reductions. As of the end of June, Microsoft employed 228,000 people worldwide.
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In filings with Washington state on Tuesday, Microsoft disclosed that 1,985 positions tied to its Redmond headquarters would be eliminated, with 1,510 of those being office roles.
This round of layoffs is expected to be Microsoft’s largest since 2023, when the company cut 10,000 positions. Earlier in January, Microsoft announced a smaller round of performance-based layoffs. However, the spokesperson clarified that the current job cuts are “not related to performance.”
One objective of the restructuring is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said. This move follows similar actions by other tech companies, including Amazon, which announced job cuts in January after identifying “unnecessary layers” in its organization.
Last week, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike also announced it would lay off 5% of its workforce, citing the impact of AI on the industry.
In January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke about plans to adjust sales execution strategies following slower-than-expected Azure cloud revenue growth unrelated to artificial intelligence. “How do you really tweak the incentives, go-to-market?” Nadella said. “At a time of platform shifts, you kind of want to make sure you lean into even the new design wins, and you just don’t keep doing the stuff that you did in the previous generation.”
On Monday, Microsoft shares closed at $449.26, marking their highest price this year. The stock had previously closed at a record $467.56 in July 2024.
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