Microsoft has been “increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers,” CFO Amy Hood previously said.
Microsoft reportedly will lay off 3 percent of its workforce–likely numbering in the thousands, according to multiple media reports–as the vendor invests in cutting-edge artificial intelligence to improve its own operations.
The layoffs will cut across levels, teams and locations worldwide, according to CNBC. Microsoft reported 228,000 employees at the end of last June, putting the number of employees cut likely around 7,000.
The cuts also come amid global uncertainty around the potential impacts of tariffs on hard goods including PCs during a year when channel partners expected a flurry of upgrades to make use of new AI PCs and to accommodate Microsoft’s October date for Windows 10 end of support to move users to Windows 11.
[RELATED: HP Plans Up To 2,000 Layoffs To Balance Costs Amid Tariff Unknowns]
Microsoft Layoffs
CRN has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
The Redmond, Wash.-based cloud, operating system, devices and AI vendor previously announced in January a layoff round of less than 1 percent of employees, a round that includedcloud solution architects and customer roles.
The layoffs come after Microsoft reported growth during its latest quarterly earnings call April 30, marking $70.1 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 15 percent year over year ignoring foreign exchange. The vendor said it is sticking to its plan to invest billions of dollars in new data centers to meet AI and cloud customer demand.
In 2023, Microsoft announced the layoffs of about 10,000 employees, hitting less than 5 percent of its workforce. During the call, CFO Amy Hood said that the vendor was “increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers” and said that the March headcount was 2 percent higher than the prior year, “down slightly” quarter over quarter, without breaking out exact numbers.
Earlier this month, CrowdStrike announced cuts of 5 percent of its workforce. Other tech vendors that have made workforce cuts this year include HP, Salesforce, Workday and Sophos.
