Microsoft's second biggest layoffs ever hits over 6,000 employees; these are the positions likely to be impacted
Microsoft
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.
AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Microsoft unveils new Xbox handheld video game devices, partners with ASUS
Microsoft on Sunday revealed its first Xbox-branded handheld video game devices, presenting them as a way to play its extensive library of titles anywhere. The two models of "ROG Xbox Ally", created in partnership with Taiwan-based ASUS will be available in the market by the holiday season at the end of the year, said Xbox president Sarah Bond during an online event. "The Xbox Ally is an Xbox you can hold in your hands, bringing together the power of Xbox and the freedom of Windows," Bond added. She also said that on this version of Xbox, users will be able to pick any game across their entire library, including all of the Windows PC game stores from Xbox and to Steam, GOG (Good Old Games platform) and Ubisoft Connect. The ROG Xbox Ally model is described as the essential handheld at a great value for everyone, from casual players to avid gamers. Meanwhile, the ROG Xbox Ally X model is the ultimate high-performance handheld gaming device, built for the most demanding players. The Xbox Ally is powered by the AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor, with 16 GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. Meanwhile, Xbox Ally X features AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme processor, with 24GB of high-speed RAM and 1TB in storage. Additionally, Xbox also made exciting offers to players who purchase the new model and are new to Game Pass. It said that these players will be get started with no extra cost and will also access hundreds of games such as Balatro, Gears Tactics, Vampire Survivors and more, straight from their device.
Economic Times
5 hours ago
- Economic Times
Online prices in 12 cities to be monitored for new CPI series
The government plans to monitor e-commerce price trends in 12 major cities to improve the accuracy of the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, set to release in 2026. This initiative involves tracking prices from leading online sellers and expanding market coverage to 2,900 markets. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The government has identified 12 cities with a population of more than 2.5 million each to monitor e-commerce price trends as part of efforts to accurately capture changing consumption patterns in the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, which is scheduled for release in 2026, said people aware of the each of these cities, prices of a particular item charged by the leading seller in that city will be noted. For instance, rice prices in Lucknow could be tracked via BigBasket, while in Bengaluru it might be Amazon, said an official, who did not wish to be updated CPI series will expand coverage to 2,900 markets, up from the current 1,181 rural and 1,114 urban markets, the people told base year for the price series will shift to 2024 from 2012, while the weights of items in the index will be derived from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) new series will avoid redistribution of weights. "There will be no redistribution of weights in the new series," the official incorporate changing consumption patterns in the CPI, weights are often redistributed. However, this can lead to overestimation as reallocating weight to another commodity may inaccurately represent its actual share in the consumption basket."It could be that the composition and weights must be fairly representative and in accordance with HCES 2011-12, which is why they have decided on exclusion of redistribution of weights," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda Gaura Sengupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank , said this is done to avoid volatility in the statistics and programme implementation ministry aims to enhance market coverage across sectors. The new series will also track prices of online streaming services (OTT platforms), as well as rail and air ministry had written to e-commerce and quick commerce companies such as Amazon, BigBasket, Zepto, Flipkart and Zomato nearly two years ago, seeking access to pricing data. However, none of them agreed to share the information owing to concerns around privacy and business strategy ministry is exploring the use of scanner data, which has been incorporated by many European countries. Efforts are underway to directly procure scanner data from retail organisations, the official scraping is also being explored, it poses some challenges, according to the ministry is also consulting international organisations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, ET had reported earlier.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Online prices in 12 cities to be monitored for new CPI series
The government plans to monitor e-commerce price trends in 12 major cities to improve the accuracy of the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, set to release in 2026. This initiative involves tracking prices from leading online sellers and expanding market coverage to 2,900 markets. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The government has identified 12 cities with a population of more than 2.5 million each to monitor e-commerce price trends as part of efforts to accurately capture changing consumption patterns in the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, which is scheduled for release in 2026, said people aware of the each of these cities, prices of a particular item charged by the leading seller in that city will be noted. For instance, rice prices in Lucknow could be tracked via BigBasket, while in Bengaluru it might be Amazon, said an official, who did not wish to be updated CPI series will expand coverage to 2,900 markets, up from the current 1,181 rural and 1,114 urban markets, the people told base year for the price series will shift to 2024 from 2012, while the weights of items in the index will be derived from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) new series will avoid redistribution of weights. "There will be no redistribution of weights in the new series," the official incorporate changing consumption patterns in the CPI, weights are often redistributed. However, this can lead to overestimation as reallocating weight to another commodity may inaccurately represent its actual share in the consumption basket."It could be that the composition and weights must be fairly representative and in accordance with HCES 2011-12, which is why they have decided on exclusion of redistribution of weights," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda Gaura Sengupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank , said this is done to avoid volatility in the statistics and programme implementation ministry aims to enhance market coverage across sectors. The new series will also track prices of online streaming services (OTT platforms), as well as rail and air ministry had written to e-commerce and quick commerce companies such as Amazon, BigBasket, Zepto, Flipkart and Zomato nearly two years ago, seeking access to pricing data. However, none of them agreed to share the information owing to concerns around privacy and business strategy ministry is exploring the use of scanner data, which has been incorporated by many European countries. Efforts are underway to directly procure scanner data from retail organisations, the official scraping is also being explored, it poses some challenges, according to the ministry is also consulting international organisations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, ET had reported earlier.
