Microsoft is cutting roughly 6,000 jobs, nearly 3% of its global workforce, in its biggest round of layoffs in over two years. The tech giant is doubling down on artificial intelligence and streamlining management as part of broader “organizational changes” aimed at positioning the company for success in a fast-evolving market.
Layoff Details
The layoffs will span all levels, teams, and geographies, but will primarily target managerial roles, affecting all areas of the business, including LinkedIn and Xbox. The United States is expected to be significantly impacted, accounting for more than half of Microsoft’s 228,000-strong workforce, with heavy concentration in Washington.
Impact on Employees
As many as 1,985 employees have been laid off from Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters alone. Of those, about 1,500 worked on-site, while 475 were remote. Their official last day of employment is scheduled for July. This move follows a smaller round of performance-based layoffs in January and marks a shift from the aggressive hiring of the pandemic years.
Strategic Realignment
The restructuring comes as Microsoft pours $80 billion this fiscal year into building data centers and infrastructure to support its rapidly expanding AI ambitions. CEO Satya Nadella recently highlighted that “maybe 20, 30% of the code” for some of Microsoft’s coding projects “are probably all written by software.” However, experts note that cutting roles doesn’t necessarily mean it’s driven by AI replacement.
Industry Context
Microsoft’s move is part of a broader wave of layoffs rippling through the tech industry in 2025. Other major tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, Google, and Dell are also restructuring their workforces amid a rapid pivot to artificial intelligence and ongoing cost pressures.
Economic Perspective
“Big tech companies have trimmed their workforces as they rearrange their strategies and pull back from the more aggressive hiring that they did during the early post-pandemic years,” said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. Microsoft’s CFO Amy Hood emphasized the company’s focus on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
