Microsoft plans to lay off thousands of employees: Report

Global tech giant Microsoft is reportedly preparing for another round of layoffs amid global downturn and tough economic conditions, which have hit the global tech sector hard. The Washington-based company is planning to cut around 5% of its total workforce of more than 2.2 lakh workers, a global news agency reported.

Microsoft, however, junked the reports by terming them 'rumours'. The current layoffs at Microsoft, if implemented, will be the third round since last year.

In October 2022, Microsoft fired as many as 1,000 employees or 1% of its workforce. Like other industry peers, Microsoft has been majorly affected by the slowest revenue growth in more than five years in the quarter ended September.

Analysts see the layoffs at Microsoft as part of the uncertainty in the global tech sector. Several big tech firms have laid off employees in large numbers in recent months.

Jeff Bezos-led Amazon recently announced layoffs of over 18,000 workers, starting January 18, 2023. “Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles,” chief executive Andy Jassy said. A majority of role eliminations are in Amazon Stores and People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) organisations. Before this, the Seattle-based online retailer sacked staff across its devices and books businesses. Amazon also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in its PXT organisation.

Social media behemoth Meta sacked 11,000 employees or 13% of its workforce last year. Microblogging platform Twitter, which is now owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, sacked 50% of its workforce. Snap, the parent company of the social media platform Snapchat, sacked 20% of its staff.

HP Inc. also said it is planning to axe 4,000-6,000 jobs by the end of fiscal 2025 as the computer maker looks to cut costs by reducing its global headcount. The layoffs, part of a wider cost-cutting plan, came after the company reported weak commercial and consumer PC sales during the fourth quarter, which ended on October 31, 2022.

Software major Salesforce fired around 1,000 employees due to the economic downturn. Musk-led Tesla also announced via an email to employees that the company is let go of around 10% of its salaried employees.

According to the data tracked by Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks layoffs, as many as 1,36,989 employees have been laid off this year so far, by 849 companies globally.