Microsoft to lay off 3% of workforce, impacting thousands of workers: Reports
Microsoft is reportedly laying off about 3% of its entire workforce.
Multiple outlets, including CNBC and The Verge, reported May 13 that roughly 6,000 employees would be laid off.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson told Paste BN. The spokesperson did not specify the amount of workers that would be cut.
According to Microsoft's website, the company employs about 228,000 workers around the world, including 126,000 in the United States as of June 2024. The reported layoffs would leave more than 6,000 people without jobs.
The news marks the latest wave of tech company layoffs in recent years, including several rounds of cuts at Microsoft.
The tech giant cut 10,000 jobs in 2023, and roughly 1,900 people were axed from its Activision Blizzard and Xbox divisions in 2024.
Other industry juggernauts, like Amazon, Meta and Alphabet, have also handed out layoffs in the last few years.
Many tech companies had massive hiring sprees at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic before reversing course in 2022 as inflation and interest rates spiked.
Several economists told Paste BN earlier this year that the waves of layoffs across tech may be indicative that consumer habits have shifted since the start of the pandemic.
Contributing: Bailey Schulz, Paste BN
This story has been updated to include a statement from Microsoft.