By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 26th, 2024
Microsoft will begin layoffs affecting over 270 people including remote workers after thousands of other layoffs since last year.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced a new round of layoffs on Monday to trim its staff strength further. The tech giant confirmed the internal announcement to GeekWire but did not indicate when the layoffs would begin or how many people would lose their jobs.
However, although Microsoft did not specify, data from the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system from Washington state’s Employment Security Department indicates the layoffs would affect 276 people, including 210 in Redmond and Bellevue – both in Washington and 66 remote positions. The job cuts are coming just as Microsoft concluded its 2023 fiscal year.
In a statement referenced by GeekWire, a company spokesperson said making personnel changes is crucial to the success of the company:
“Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”
Earlier Microsoft Layoffs
In January, Microsoft announced layoffs that could affect up to 11,000 employees. The company’s aim was to achieve cost-effective operations as the global economy dwindled.
The decision to conduct the staff layoffs also likely stemmed from the ill effects of the global economic downturn. In addition to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform not performing as expected, MSFT was also declining. CEO Satya Nadella had said that “the next two years are probably going to be the most challenging”. According to him, the company would likely experience some “normalization” following the “acceleration” experienced during the pandemic. Nadella also added that a real recession could affect Microsoft as well.
Last October, Microsoft quietly conducted a round of layoffs that affected less than 1,000 positions. A report stated that the layoff mainly affected divisions, including its Xbox division and the Microsoft Strategic Missions and Technology organization. According to a company spokesperson, the decision resulted from evaluating priorities and making structural adjustments.
Tech Layoffs since 2022
Microsoft’s recent round of layoffs follows multiple, seemingly unending layoffs in the global technology sector. According to a TechCrunch report, there were 10,524 layoffs in June 2023, including Microsoft, Meta, Y Combinator, Twitter, Waymo, GitHub, and Yahoo. The report states a higher number for May, with layoffs affecting 14,555 employees. The highest month was January, with a record 84,714 employees laid off.
According to tracker Layoffs.fyi, 844 tech companies have laid off 216,364 employees in 2023, as of July 11. Crunchbase states that so far, Amazon has had the largest number of layoffs in 2023, affecting 16,000 roles. Alphabet had the second largest at 12,000.
Layoffs.fyi puts 2022 tech layoffs at a total of 164,709 across 1,058 companies. In November, Meta announced 11,000 job cuts, while Amazon.com Inc cut off 18,000 employees, 6% of the company’s workforce. Salesforce also revealed it would lay off 10% of its workforce, affecting over 7,000 people. As of July 11, 2023, the company has more than 72,000 employees globally.