Microsoft's second biggest layoffs ever hits over 6,000 employees; these are the positions likely to be impacted
has announced that it will lay off 3% of its global workforce, affecting thousands of employees across all levels, teams, and geographies, amounting to over 6,000 employees. The cuts at the Redmond giant, which employed 228,000 people as of last June, aim to reduce management layers and streamline operations.
"We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
This represents Microsoft's largest reduction since eliminating 10,000 roles in 2023. Unlike January's smaller performance-based cuts, the company indicated these
layoffs
are structural in nature.
Layoffs to impact management staff; coders and engineering employees may stay safe
These cuts may particularly impact middle management roles, as the company seeks to create a more streamlined hierarchy by increasing each manager's "span of control." Microsoft, as reported by Business Insider previously, aims to prioritize engineering talent as it continues investing heavily in artificial intelligence initiatives.
Poll
Should Microsoft prioritize engineering talent over other roles?
No, all roles are equally important.
Yes, it's crucial for AI development.
Sources told Business Insider that laid off employees will stay on the payroll for the 60 days after their termination. Further, the affected staff will also be reportedly eligible for rewards and bonuses.
Microsoft has introduced new rehire ban and performance management overhaul
The workforce reduction comes amid significant changes to Microsoft's performance management system. According to internal documents viewed by Business Insider, the company has implemented a two-year rehire ban for employees forced out due to performance issues.
Microsoft has also introduced a "good attrition" metric to track desirable employee departures. This approach mirrors Amazon's controversial "unregretted attrition" system and signals Microsoft's intent to more aggressively manage underperforming staff.
Under the new system, employees facing performance issues must either enter a performance improvement plan (PIP) with "clear expectations and a timeline for improvement" or accept a "Global Voluntary Separation Agreement" with 16 weeks of severance pay. Those who choose the PIP path have just five days to decide and will no longer be eligible for the severance package if they opt for the improvement plan.
Managment roles are being cut across the industry as tech giants push for efficiency
Microsoft's restructuring reflects a broader trend across the tech industry toward flatter organizational structures and higher engineering efficiency. The company is reportedly focusing on reducing its "PM ratio" — the proportion of managers to engineers — across teams.
Similar strategies have been implemented at other tech giants, including Amazon and Google, where the top layer of the hierarchy were let go. Meta is also expected to let go off several thousand employees this year, as CEO
Mark Zuckerberg
pushes for a 'year of efficiency.'
The layoffs follow Microsoft's better-than-expected quarterly results reported in April, when CEO
Satya Nadella
indicated the company would make sales execution changes after lower-than-expected growth in non-AI Azure cloud revenue.
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Why Microsoft workers have taken over company's main campus in Washington
Dozens of current and former Microsoft employees congregated at the tech firm's campus in Washington on Tuesday afternoon to protest against the company's contracts with Israel. The employees, who were also joined by locals, are part of the No Azure for Apartheid group, which itself is part of the No Tech for Apartheid movement The No Azure for Apartheid group took over part of Microsoft's campus which spans around 500 acres in Redmond and recently underwent redevelopment. They set up tents and declared the area a 'liberated zone'. Image courtesy: @NoAz4Apartheid Microsoft has a problem. Its workers in Washington, DC, are in an uproar – and have taken over part of the company's main campus. The issue at hand? The company's defence contracts with Israel. An employee group within the firm has been pressuring the company to cut its ties with Israel. The development came less than a week after Microsoft said it was launching an independent probe into the use of its Azure software. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This isn't the first time the employees have raised a hue and cry. But what happened? What do we know? Let's take a closer look: What happened? Dozens of employees, as well as former members of the firm, congregated on Microsoft's campus in Washington on Tuesday afternoon. The employees, who were also joined by locals, are part of the No Azure for Apartheid group – which itself is part of the No Tech for Apartheid movement. The group took over part of the campus which spans around 500 acres in Redmond and recently underwent redevelopment. They set up tents and declared the area a 'liberated zone'. The group said they had changed the name of the area from the East Campus Plaza to 'The Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza.' They also set up artwork that honoured those who died in Gaza. This included shrouds and a large plate that stated 'Stop Starving Gaza.' They also set up a table with a sign asking Microsoft management to 'come to the table' and cut ties with the Israeli military. The group also published an open letter and manifesto entitled 'We will not be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine: a call for a Worker Intifada'. The group has called on Microsoft employees to voice their objections, walk off their jobs, and go on strike until Microsoft ceases to do business with the Israeli government and military. The No Azure for Apartheid group has also slammed Microsoft's decision for banning terms such as 'Gaza,' 'genocide,' and 'apartheid' in their internal communications. The group said around 50 people had attended the beginning of the event. Microsoft employs nearly 50,000 people at its Redmond campus. Why are the employees doing this? Hossam Nasr, an ex-Microsoft employee who is leading the protest, said the group had taken this decision because Microsoft refused to respond to their concerns surrounding the use of Azure. Azure is Microsoft's cloud-computing division. It sells software to businesses and governments as well allows them to store data on its servers. The Israeli government and its agencies are among the clients of Azure. An investigation this month revealed that an Israeli military surveillance unit is using Microsoft's Azure software to record phone calls of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel is said to have used this information to choose the locations on which to drop bombs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Nasr told The Guardian, 'We are here because over 22 months of genocide, Israel — powered by Microsoft — has been killing, maiming Palestinian children every hour'. Nasr also cited the death of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a reason for this fresh protest. Anas was among five journalists killed in a strike by Israel earlier this month. 'I watched him report on Gaza relentlessly, through starvation, through extermination campaigns, through bombing. He was the voice of the business. He was intentionally targeted,' Nasr, 26, said. Critics of Israel have long accused them of conducting a genocide in Gaza and targeting journalists covering the war. Israel disputes such allegations, however the increasing number of journalists killed in Gaza suggests otherwise. Hossam Nasr, an ex-Microsoft employee who is leading the protest, said the group had taken this decision because Microsoft refused to respond to their concerns surrounding the use of Azure. Image courtesy: Hossam Nasr, an ex-Microsoft employee who is leading the protest, said the group had taken this decision because Microsoft refused to respond to their concerns surrounding the use of Azure. Image courtesy: @NoAz4Apartheid Nasr was earlier fired for leading a protest against Microsoft. The firm has sacked a few members of the No Azure for Apartheid group for holding unauthorised events and disrupting these speeches of its top executives. The latest protests have been clearly inspired by uprisings against Israel on US college campuses. Many students had called for US colleges to cut ties with Israel and adopt the BDS movement, or Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, movement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Microsoft is the most complicit digital arms manufacturer in Israel's genocide of Gaza,' Microsoft employee Nisreen Jaradat said in a statement on Tuesday. Jaradat told The Guardian, ' Every single second that we wait, things are worse and worse in Palestine. People are getting hungrier and hungrier. More and more people are being bombed and maimed. It's time for us to escalate, however we can.' Julius Shan, another Microsoft employee, added, 'I think we are inspiring conversation among the people who work at Microsoft to feel more comfortable talking about this with each other and about how their work is contributing to genocide'. Some experts have accused Israel of conducting a genocide in Gaza. The United Nations has warned that Gaza faces widespread starvation and disease. The Gaza Health Ministry has said that at least 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war – which Israel launched as a response to the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The group had said it would remain in the plaza until it was forcibly removed. An hour into the protest, a police officer showed up to warn them they were press passing on private property and that there would be arrested. The demonstrators then left the plaza and set up on a sidewalk –which organisers said was public property. A Microsoft spokesperson said the group 'was asked to leave, and they left'. The company in May claimed it had 'found no evidence to date that Microsoft's Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza'. However Microsoft has since enlisted the Covington & Burlin law firm to conduct an independent review. Previous protests by Microsoft employees This isn't the first time Microsoft employees have taken the company to task over its ties to Israel. In April, Vaniya Agrawal, an Indian-origin engineer, slammed Microsoft's top leadership at a companywide party in Washington. Microsoft at the time was holding an event to celebrate its 50th anniversary with leaders such as Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella in attendance. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Vaniya Agrawal later sent an email announcing that she is leaving Microsoft. LinkedIn 'Shame on you all. You're all hypocrites,' Agrawal said at the time. 'Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood. Cut ties with Israel,' she said. Agrawal was escorted from the event and booed by some fellow Microsoft employees. She later took to LinkedIn to announce her exit from the firm. That same event also saw Ibtihal Aboussad, another Microsoft employee, disrupting the speech of AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. 'Mustafa, shame on you,' Aboussad yelled – which caused Suleyman to halt his address. 'You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.' 'Thank you for your protest, I hear you,' Suleyman responded. But Aboussad wasn't finished. She proclaimed that 'all of Microsoft' has blood on their hands and threw a keffiyeh on stage. The scarf has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people. Aboussad too was removed from the event. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In February, five Microsoft employees were thrown out of an internal meeting with Nadella for protesting against the contracts with Israel. More than 60 Microsoft shareholders holding $80 million in the firm have demanded a review to see Microsoft's contracts with Israeli firms are contravening human rights in Gaza. The proposal will likely be taken up at the company's annual general meeting in December.
India Today
31 minutes ago
- India Today
Google changes coding interviews to stop AI cheating, and it's not the only one
In an era where AI is everywhere, Google is tightening its hiring process. CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that the company will now reintroduce in-person interviews for technical roles like engineering and reason? Candidates have increasingly been caught using AI tools during virtual coding challenges, making it tough for recruiters to judge real reportedly said, 'We are making sure [that] with the advent of AI, we still hire people who have strong computer science fundamentals and can do the job well.'advertisement He confirmed that Google will 'definitely introduce at least one round' of in-person interviews for all technical AI CHEATING PUSHED GOOGLE TO ACTAccording to reports, more than half of candidates in some virtual technical interviews have been suspected of cheating with AI. With off-camera tools answering coding questions, recruiters often can't tell if the candidate truly understands the has sparked strong demand inside Google to move back to face-to-face hiring rounds where talent can be tested in real COMPANIES ARE TAKING ACTION TOOGoogle isn't alone. Other tech giants are also battling AI-assisted cheating:Amazon now asks candidates to sign a formal agreement not to use unauthorised AI has an outright ban on AI use in and McKinsey have both brought back on-site interview already reinstated in-person interviews for its UK graduate remote hiring saves money and time, the integrity of the hiring process is at risk. For companies like Google, ensuring that employees have strong fundamentals is now more important than speed.- Ends
Time of India
an hour ago
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Microsoft sees biggest escalation yet of protests over Palestine; "Liberated Zone" created in campus and more
Microsoft employees occupied company headquarters Tuesday in the most significant protest yet against the tech giant's contracts with Israel, establishing an encampment they renamed " Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza ." Around 50 current and former Microsoft workers, alongside community supporters, took over the East Campus Plaza at the company's Redmond, Washington headquarters as part of escalating demonstrations by the " No Azure for Apartheid " group. The protesters set up tents, erected memorials to Gaza casualties, and established a negotiating table inviting Microsoft executives to "come to the table" and end partnerships with the Israeli military. The demonstration ended after approximately two hours when police ordered protesters to leave, threatening arrests for trespassing. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the group "was asked to leave, and they left" but provided no additional comment beyond previous statements. Employees demand complete divestment from Israeli partnerships The activists distributed a manifesto titled "We will not be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine: a call for a Worker Intifada," demanding Microsoft cut all ties with Israel, call for an end to the conflict, pay reparations to Palestinians, and stop discriminating against pro-Palestinian workers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The 5 Books Warren Buffett Recommends You To Read in 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo The group has spent over a year pushing Microsoft to end its relationship with Israel, arguing the company's Azure cloud platform contributes to civilian deaths in Gaza by serving Israeli government and military agencies. Several organizers have been terminated for holding unauthorised campus events and disrupting executive speeches, including interruptions of CEO Satya Nadella's presentations. Investigation reveals surveillance concerns amid ongoing worker resistance The protest follows recent reporting by The Guardian and +972 Magazine revealing Israel's military surveillance unit stored millions of Palestinian phone calls on Azure servers, with that data helping inform Gaza bombing targets. Microsoft enlisted law firm Covington & Burling to conduct an independent review of these allegations, though the company maintains it has "found no evidence" its technologies have been used to target civilians. The demonstrations were also motivated by the recent targeted killing of prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif , according to protester Hossam Nasr, a former Microsoft employee who was fired last year for organizing a Palestine vigil.
