Microsoft Reportedly To Cut Thousands Of Jobs

(RTTNews) - Tech major Microsoft Corp. plans to cut thousands of jobs in various divisions, mainly in human resources and engineering divisions amid slowing demand and weakening economic outlook worldwide, reports said.

Citing sources, British broadcaster Sky News reported that the firm is finalising plans to cut about 5 percent of its more than 220,000 workforce, which would equate to about 11,000 roles.

Further, Bloomberg reported that the company plans to cut jobs in a number of engineering divisions amid a prolonged slump in demand. The reduction is expected to be significantly larger than other rounds at Microsoft in the past year, which had impacted less than 1 percent of its workforce.

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

The tech giant in July last year had said that it had eliminated a small number of roles. Further, in October, news site Axios reported citing a source that Microsoft had laid off fewer than 1,000 people across multiple divisions.

The software maker was experiencing slowing revenue growth mainly due to weaker sales of Windows licenses for PCs.

Microsoft spokesperson reportedly said then that, "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."

Microsoft joins many major US tech firms who recently announced job cuts or hiring freeze amid the slowing growth, including Amazon, Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter.

Amazon announced plans to cut 18,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, while Facebook parent Meta said it was reducing its workforce by around 11,000 roles.