Microsoft says it is laying off nearly 3 percent of its entire workforce.
The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs but it will amount to about 6,000 people.
Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. About 55 percent of those workers were in the US.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said the layoffs will be across all levels and geographies but will focus on reducing management levels. Notices went out on Tuesday.
Microsoft announced a smaller round of performance-based layoffs in January. But the 3 percent cuts will be Microsoft’s biggest reported layoffs since early 2023, when the company cut 10,000 workers, almost 5 percent of its workforce, joining other tech companies that were scaling back their pandemic-era expansions.
The latest layoffs come just weeks after Microsoft reported strong sales and profits that beat Wall Street expectations for the January-March quarter, which investors took as a dose of relief during a turbulent time for the tech sector and US economy.
Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Amy Hood, said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.” She also said the headcount in March was 2 percent higher than a year earlier, and down slightly compared to the end of last year.
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