New Delhi: Microsoft is laying off about 6,000 employees worldwide, or about 3 per cent of its staff. Tuesday’s announcement marks the company’s largest layoff round since it eliminated 10,000 jobs the previous year.
Employees at various organisational levels will be impacted by the reorganisation, including teams at Microsoft-owned LinkedIn and multiple foreign subsidiaries.
The announcement was confirmed by Microsoft spokesperson Pete Wootton, who reportedly said: “We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.”
The layoffs are a component of a larger corporate restructuring that aims to increase agility and efficiency. During Microsoft’s 30 April earnings call, Amy Hood, the company’s chief financial officer, alluded to impending structural changes by emphasising a focus on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.” These attempts to simplify operations and eliminate superfluous management layers seem to be in line with the headcount decrease.
The layoffs also contribute to a larger trend of downsizing in the technology industry, as businesses struggle to strike a balance between investor expectations, economic challenges, and growth aspirations.
