Microsoft to cut thousands of jobs in fresh round of layoffs: reports

Microsoft is likely to slash 11,000 jobs or about 5% of its workforce, UK broadcaster Sky News reported, citing people aware of the matter.

As per the report, some roles are expected to be eliminated in human resources and engineering divisions.

The tech giant most recently slashed its workforce in October and July, and has paused hiring.


It had said in July last year that a small number of roles had been eliminated. In October, news site Axios reported that Microsoft had laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions.

In a fresh round of layoffs, the company plans to cut jobs in a number of engineering divisions on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported, adding that the cuts will be significantly larger than other rounds in the past year.

Meanwhile, Insider reported that Microsoft could cut recruiting staff by as much as one-third.

Microsoft joins Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, among other major companies that have sacked thousands of employees in the past few months.

"From a big picture perspective, another pending round of layoffs at Microsoft suggests the environment is not improving, and likely continues to worsen," a Reuters report cited Morningstar analyst Dan Romanoff as saying.

The company had 221,000 full-time employees, including 122,000 in the United States and 99,000 internationally, as of June 30, according to filings.

Microsoft is under pressure to maintain growth rates at its cloud unit Azure, after several quarters of downturn in the personal computer market hurt Windows and devices sales, a Reuters report said.

Recently, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the e-commerce giant will lay off over 18,000 employees, starting January 18. In an email to staff, he cited "uncertain economy" and "rapid hiring" as reasons behind the job cuts.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms has said it will let go of 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, as part of a plan to reduce costs at the social-media platform following disappointing earnings, soaring costs, and a weak advertising market.