Skip to main content

Latest Microsoft layoffs could hit 9,000 employees

caption: A portion of the Microsoft campus in Redmond is shown on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
Enlarge Icon
A portion of the Microsoft campus in Redmond is shown on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

Microsoft is firing thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months.

The Redmond-based tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday.

The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago.

RELATED: A tech job at Microsoft meant stability. Not anymore.

Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division and its Xbox video game business.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” it said in a statement.

RELATED: Microsoft turns 50: A look back at everything from the Altair to the Zune

Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year.

Until now, at least, the biggest was in May, when Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spent heavily on artificial intelligence.

RELATED: Microsoft President Brad Smith on how to defend your job from AI

Microsoft also cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond headquarters in June, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the Puget Sound region in May, according to notices it sent to Washington state employment officials.

Why you can trust KUOW
Close
On Air Shows

Print

Print

Play Audio
 Live Now On KUOW
KUOW Live Stream
On Air Shows

Print

Print

Play Audio
Local Newscast
The Latest
View All
    Play Audio