The challenges in the current economy are not lost on Big Tech companies, including Microsoft. While the company continues to perform well, in its Fiscal Q1 2023 in October, Microsoft announced profits were down year-on-year with revenues up. We have seen major tech giants lay off thousands of workers and now it is the turn of Microsoft Employees.
Last August's laying off of 1,000 Microsoft employees seems to be just the start. Sky News reports that the company will lay off more than 10,000 workers today or sometime this week. In response, Microsoft has said this is just a rumor.
According to the report, the company will cut 5% of its global workforce. That does not sound huge, but Microsoft employs hundreds of thousands of workers around the world. So, that 5% totals over 11,000 employees that are facing the axe.
As mentioned, Microsoft previously laid off over 1,000 workers in August. These Microsoft employees were mostly from the Xbox and Azure divisions. This week's cut – if true – will be wider in scope and cover more businesses under Microsoft's umbrella.
Rumor
While Microsoft declined to offer a proper response to the report, the company told Gizmodo it is just a “rumor”. It will look bad if the company does indeed cut employees this week after describing it as just conjecture. Either way, Microsoft is said to be looking to cut its workforce by a third this year and will not increase hiring rates to current levels for another year or two.
In recent months, Amazon has removed over 18,000 employees, while Meta laid off thousands. Microsoft is not escaping this downturn and in August described the cuts as necessary:
“Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly. We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.”
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Last Updated on January 25, 2023 2:22 am CET