Microsoft sacks 6000 workers; CEO Satya Nadella explains reason, says...
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the layoffs were not about job performance. (File)
Microsoft Layoffs: Microsoft recently cut nearly 3 percent of its global workforce, sacking nearly 6,000 employees worldwide, and now the tech giant's CEO Satya Nadella has come forward to explain the reasons behind the latest round of Microsoft layoffs. Addressing a company-wide townhall, Nadella asserted that the layoffs were driven by an internal reorganisation by the company, not employee performance. Job cuts about AI push, not performance
'This was about reorganisation rather than performance,' the CEO told Microsoft employees, while stating that the tech titan is working on realigning its priorities to focus more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI), where it believes the future lies.
Speaking at the company town hall meet, Microsoft Chief Product Officer (CPO) Aparna Chennapragada said she disagrees with the notion that studying coding or computer science is becoming obsolete with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 'I fundamentally disagree with the notion that people should not study computer science or that coding is dead,' she stated.
Notably, Microsoft is reportedly planning to invest a staggering $80 billion in 2025 to develop more AI infrastructure, aimed at expanding the company's AI capabilities and rolling out its Copilot AI assistants across various platforms and services. However, this shift in priorities is threatening various roles within the company, especially in product development and engineering, which are being restructured or gradually phased out. Microsoft layoffs
Earlier this month, reports emerged that Microsoft, the world's most valuable company with a market cap of $3.41 trillion, had laid off about 6,000 workers globally, which is nearly 3% of its global workforce. The latest round of Microsoft layoffs is the company's largest after it sacked more than 10,000 workers last year.
However, while the earlier jobs cuts were driven by employee performance, the latest layoffs are a result of Microsoft's shifting focus towards AI, which involves cutting jobs in several areas which have become redundant with the rise of AI automation, especially in coding and program maintenance.
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