Microsoft began issuing layoff notices to thousands of employees Tuesday morning, two weeks after hinting at plans to streamline its workforce by cutting layers of management and making teams more agile.
Fewer than 3% of Microsoft’s global workforce is expected to be impacted. That would equate to roughly 6,000 people, based on the company’s most recent employee count of 228,000 as of June 2024, also taking into account performance-based job cuts by the company earlier this year.
The company did not say whether efficiencies from artificial intelligence are playing a role in the latest reductions.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement this morning.
FOLLOW-UP: Microsoft will cut nearly 2,000 jobs in Washington state as part of broader layoffs
Unlike the performance-based layoffs earlier this year, the latest cuts are broader in scope — affecting a mix of levels, geographies, and teams across the company, including LinkedIn.
On Microsoft’s April 30 earnings call, CFO Amy Hood said the company was focused “on building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
Hood noted that headcount was up 2% year-over-year, but had declined slightly in the March quarter compared to December — consistent with reports that the company began trimming staff earlier this year.
Microsoft’s move is part of a broader pattern of tech layoffs in 2025 as companies navigate an uncertain economic climate and seek to streamline operations, often with the help of AI tools and automation.
More than 53,000 tech employees have been laid off at 126 companies so far this year, according to Layoffs.fyi. That compares to nearly 153,000 layoffs across 551 companies in all of 2024, and more than 264,000 tech jobs cut in 2023 — reflecting a larger wave of industry cutbacks two years ago.
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