Microsoft is laying off more of its approximately 180,000 employees this week, according to reporting in the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, following a similar announcement in July. Although the firm has not given an exact number of workers affected, the cuts are expected to fall on less than 1,000 staff across the business.
The job losses aren’t concentrated in any one area of the diverse tech behemoth, with the axe falling across all departments and countries. Some staff took to social media to report the events, including KC Lemson, a group product/program manager and the creator of the Ninja Cat logo for the Windows Insider Program. She wrote that “2022 has been quite a year,” after breaking the news to her 8,000 followers, many of whom reacted with surprise and sympathy.
The move comes amidst slowing growth in the technology sector and other global pressures. The announcement of layoffs by Microsoft in July covered less than 1% of the total workforce, and it’s currently unclear whether this week’s redundancies are part of that, or a new tranche of job losses.
The Windows maker is not the only tech firm with a hand hovering over the big red ‘fire’ button, with Meta Platforms, Twitter, and Snap all reducing staff numbers and freezing hires as they look for savings in the face of challenging economic conditions. Microsoft shares have fallen around 30% this year, from a high of around $340 in December 2021 to $225 on October 11th this year, and $240 at the time of writing. The company is still highly successful, with net income filling its coffers with $72.7 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30 2022, an increase of 19% over the year before.
A Microsoft statement on the matter sent to Axios.com reads: “Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly. We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.” Keen-eyed correspondents noticed that this was very similar to the statement MS had made back in July, when it also said it would continue to grow its headcount and invest in the business.
