Wave of Layoffs Hits at Microsoft as Company Plans to cut more than 10,000 Jobs: Report

Microsoft announces 10,000 layoffs

January 20, 2023: New Delhi: There is no stopping the wave of retrenchments, at least for now. After major companies like Meta, Twitter, Amazon, Goldman Sachs issued pink slips to thousands of their employees, Microsoft is also expected to announce job cuts on Wednesday, which will affect about 5 percent of its workforce. 

The US tech giant is looking to cut thousands of employees in its human resources and engineering divisions, with thousands expected to be eliminated.

The layoffs at Microsoft would be the latest in the US technology sector, where several companies have already announced layoff exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook. 

UK broadcaster Sky News reported that the Satya Nadella-led software giant is planning to cut its workforce by 5 percent, or about 11,000 roles.

Departments that could be affected by the job cuts include engineering departments, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. 

The cuts will be significantly larger than last year’s other round, when it handed out pink slips to about 1,000 people and is being announced ahead of Microsoft’s quarterly earnings next week. 

As of June 30, the company had 221,000 full-time employees, including 122,000 in the US and 99,000 internationally. 

It may be mentioned here that the software major introduced a new unlimited time off policy a few days ago.

According to the policy, Microsoft employees who have unused vacation balance will receive a one-time payout in April, and managers can grant unlimited “discretionary time off.” 

Meanwhile, more than 30,000 workers have been hit by a wave of layoffs globally in the days leading up to 2023.

Last week, investment bank Goldman Sachs laid off nearly 3,000 employees, while e-commerce giant Amazon also cut 18,000 jobs as it implemented layoffs. cut 

Amid the economic slowdown and fears of a recession, layoffs have accelerated and an average of 1,600 tech workers are being laid off a day in 2023 globally, including in India. 

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