I am just going to document things for posterity:
- Microsoft is laying off approximately 6,000 employees, or 3% of its global workforce (based on a headcount of 228,000 as of June 2024).
- Microsoft’s severance package reportedly includes 12 weeks’ base pay plus 2 weeks per year of tenure, although details vary by location and team.
- These layoffs are not performance-related and will span all levels, teams, and geographies, including high-impact teams like LinkedIn, Xbox, GitHub, and Azure.
- 1,985 employees in Washington state are being cut, with 1,510 of them in-office workers and the rest remote.
- This is Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since January 2023, when it cut 10,000 jobs.
- The main reason cited is a push to reduce management layers and increase organizational agility.
- CEO Satya Nadella stated that about 30% of some Microsoft code is now being written by AI, hinting at a broader shift toward automation.
- Despite these cuts, Microsoft reported strong Q1 results: $25.8 billion in net income, up 18%, and strong demand for AI services.
- The company has invested heavily in AI infrastructure, planning to spend over $80 billion this fiscal year, though Q1 AI spending dipped slightly.
- Some employees suspect this is an accounting maneuver to "smooth earnings" rather than a true operational necessity.
- Microsoft employees and users on forums like Blind expressed shock, sadness, & frustration, with many learning they were impacted via group calls.
- One user said it felt like a "bloodbath", while another commented, "this has never happened to me in my career... I'm sad."
- Others criticized the randomness, saying cuts appeared to be non-strategic & disproportionately impacted teams that were previously considered "safe."
- Internal leaks revealed that Microsoft now uses a two-year rehire ban for employees let go for performance & refers to them as "good attrition."
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Critics say Microsoft is following Amazon’s lead in normalizing constant layoffs and labeling employee exits as a metric of success.
SOURCES
New York Post: "Microsoft to lay off 3% of global workforce — roughly 7K jobs — in shift to develop AI"
https://nypost.com/2025/05/13/business/microsoft-layoffs-hit-3-of-global-workforce-roughly-7k-employees/
Reuters: "Microsoft to lay off 3% of workforce, CNBC reports"
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/microsoft-lay-off-3-workforce-cnbc-reports-2025-05-13/
Times of India: "Microsoft announces second-biggest job cuts in its history"
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/microsoft-announces-second-biggest-job-cuts-in-its-history-we-continue-to-/articleshow/121143623.cms
Business Insider: "Microsoft has started its culling of managers and noncoders, with about 6,000 cuts planned"
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-plans-to-cut-thousands-of-employees-2025-5
Barron's: "Microsoft Cuts Thousands of Jobs in Latest Layoffs"
https://www.barrons.com/articles/microsoft-stock-layoffs-job-cuts-bbd740dc
Investopedia: "Microsoft Reportedly Cutting 3% of Global Workforce"
https://www.investopedia.com/microsoft-reportedly-cutting-3-percent-of-global-workforce-11733745
Washington State Employment Security Department: "Worker adjustment and retraining notification (WARN) layoff and closure database"
https://esd.wa.gov/employer-requirements/layoffs-and-employee-notifications/worker-adjustment-and-retraining-notification-warn-layoff-and-closure-database
TechCrunch: "Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company’s code was written by AI"
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/29/microsoft-ceo-says-up-to-30-of-the-companys-code-was-written-by-ai/
AP News: "Microsoft to lay off about 3% of its workforce"
https://apnews.com/article/d1f2de54ebad6f099deac8fbd3375835
Business Insider: "What's behind Microsoft's plans to flatten management layers by cutting thousands of employees"
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-flattening-management-layers-cutting-jobs-2025-5
Financial Times: "Microsoft to axe 3% of workforce in latest round of job cuts"
https://www.ft.com/content/f453e330-1e56-4b45-9889-382098025415
Times of India: "Microsoft announces second-biggest job cuts in its history"
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/microsoft-announces-second-biggest-job-cuts-in-its-history-we-continue-to-/articleshow/121143623.cms
New York Post: "Microsoft to lay off 3% of global workforce — roughly 7K jobs — in shift to develop AI"
https://nypost.com/2025/05/13/business/microsoft-layoffs-hit-3-of-global-workforce-roughly-7k-employees/
The Verge: "Microsoft is laying off more than 6,000 employees"
https://www.theverge.com/news/659401/microsoft-layoffs-three-percent-workforce
Business Insider: "Microsoft has started its culling of managers and noncoders, with about 6,000 cuts planned"
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-plans-to-cut-thousands-of-employees-2025-5
Wall Street Journal: "Microsoft Plans to Lay Off Thousands of Managers"
https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-layoffs-workers-2025-c1b9b6dd