Microsoft said Wednesday that it will lay off about 9,000 employees.
According to CNBC, the move will affect less than 4% of its global workforce across different teams, geographies and levels of experience.
Microsoft has held several rounds of layoffs already this calendar year. In January, it cut less than 1% of headcount based on performance. The 50-year-old software company slashed more than 6,000 jobs in May and then at least 300 more in June. As of June 2024, it employed 228,000 people. In 2023, it laid off 10,000.
The announcement comes on the second day of Microsoft’s 2026 fiscal year. Executives at the Redmond, Washington-based company typically unveil reorganisations at the time of the new fiscal year.
We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace, CNBC quoted a Microsoft spokesperson.
The largest culling of Microsoft workers came in 2014, when the company sacked 18,000 after acquiring Nokia’s devices and services business.
As was the case with the May layoffs, Microsoft is looking to reduce the number of layers of managers that stand between individual contributors and top executives, said the person who asked not to be named while discussing internal matters.
To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness, Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s CEO of gaming, wrote in a Wednesday memo to employees in that division.
Microsoft reported nearly $26 billion in net income on $70 billion in revenue for the March quarter. The numbers were well ahead of Wall Street’s consensus, keeping Microsoft ranked as one of the most profitable companies in the S&P 500 index, according to data compiled by FactSet.
