Back in January, Microsoft dismissed reports of 11,000 layoffs from the company as rumor, before confirming 10,000 job cuts days later. Since then, several divisions have been decimated by the layoffs. HoloLens has lost many employees while some departments such as the AI Ethics and Society team was removed entirely. Now, Microsoft is turning the axe towards its security employees.
As part of the staged removal of around 5% of its global workforce, Microsoft has removed 559 jobs from its Bellevue and Redmond offices in Washington. The company confirmed the cuts through a filing made to the Washington Employee Security Department.
These cuts come from Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management. Microsoft said in January it plans to stop the layoffs by the end of the first quarter, which is the end of this month. It is unclear if the company has met its plan to release 10,000 of its workforce.
It is also not clear how the company has decided which divisions to reduce or cut entirely. On paper, the removal of the Ethics and Society team seems foolhardy considering Microsoft’s current deep push with AI across its services.
LinkedIn – which Microsoft says is thriving – was unable to avoid the swinging axe, with employees leaving the social network this month.
Big Tech Problem
Major layoffs are not unique to Microsoft, with other tech giants also conducting major cuts. Google says it will cut 12,000 jobs.
Amazon is also releasing around 20,000 employees, while Twitter and Facebook have also announced major reductions. Twitter is also laying off hundreds more after a mass exodus last year. PayPal and Meta have also announced cuts, while Spotify says it is cutting 6% of its workforce in the coming weeks and months.
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