In a fresh wave of cost-cutting measures, Microsoft Corporation has begun laying off approximately 9,000 employees — marking its second significant round of job cuts this year. The move affects less than 4% of the company’s global workforce and spans across departments, geographies, and tenure levels.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the development, stating, “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.” The company emphasized that the layoffs are part of an effort to streamline operations, reduce management layers, and improve overall efficiency.
The latest round follows a previous layoff in May, which saw around 6,000 employees — primarily from product and engineering roles — let go. This time, the cuts are expected to hit sales teams particularly hard, and will reportedly affect other divisions including Xbox, as reported earlier by Bloomberg.
With a workforce of around 228,000 employees as of June 2024 — 45,000 of whom work in sales and marketing — Microsoft has a history of conducting internal restructuring at the end of its fiscal year in June.
Notably, the company’s top sales executive, Judson Althoff, is set to begin a two-month sabbatical this July. While the timing coincides with the layoffs, Microsoft maintains the leave was pre-planned and that Althoff will return in September.
This move comes amid a broader industry trend of tech giants revisiting hiring strategies and operational structures amid economic uncertainty and evolving market dynamics. While Microsoft continues to invest in strategic areas like AI and cloud computing, the company appears keen on keeping its workforce lean and focused heading into the next fiscal year.