Microsoft cuts another 4% of its workforce, about 9,000 jobs, in continued push for efficiency
Microsoft will eliminate about 4% of its global workforce — approximately 9,000 jobs in all — not just in games and sales as previously reported but across the company,
Impacted employees are being notified Wednesday morning, across different levels, teams, geographies and tenure. The cuts are part of a broader efficiency drive that already reduced the tech giant's employee base by 3% in May, affecting about 6,000 workers in that prior round.
Microsoft again declined to directly link the reductions to artificial intelligence. But earlier reports indicated that software engineers bore the brunt of the previous cuts — a pattern that coincides with the company's heavy investments in AI tools that automate coding tasks.
As with the earlier layoffs, a company spokesperson said Microsoft is continuing to implement 'organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.'
The latest cuts follow the June 30 close of the company's fiscal year. Microsoft traditionally makes cuts and restructures operations this time of year as it prepares for its new fiscal year, but it's unusual to see such sizable cutbacks in multiple rounds so close together.
Microsoft is 'building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers,' said Amy Hood, Microsoft's CFO, on an April 30 earnings call.
The company is simultaneously spending record sums — as much as $80 billion in the recently completed fiscal year — to expand its data centers and cloud infrastructure to meet AI demand.
As part of the prior cuts, Microsoft laid off nearly 2,300 workers in Washington state in multiple rounds, the largest layoffs in its home state since 2023, when it cut more than 3,000 jobs.
Its latest layoff numbers for Washington state — and details on the types of positions impacted — will likely emerge later today through a company filing with state employment officials.
Microsoft Employees By Category
Microsoft Employees By Category
Operations
Product R&D
Sales & Marketing
General & Admin
Source: Microsoft 10K filings. GeekWire graphic by Claude.AI
Microsoft employed around 54,000 people in the Seattle region before the latest reductions, part of a workforce that numbered about 228,000 people as of June 2024. The company is scheduled to report its new employment numbers with its annual SEC filing in a few weeks.
The latest layoffs are part of a broader wave of tech industry cuts in 2025. Technology companies have announced 76,214 job cuts this year, up 27% from the same period last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The firm cited disruptions from AI advancement and visa uncertainties as key factors driving tech layoffs.
Overall, U.S. employers have announced 744,308 job cuts in 2025, the highest total since 2020.
Microsoft sales chief Judson Althoff, the company's chief commercial officer, is taking a two-month sabbatical, according to a Bloomberg News report this week.
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