Microsoft is Firing 6,000 Workers to Reduce Layers of Management

The tech industry, which has already lost over 52,000 workers in 2025 so far, continues getting smaller and smaller each passing day, with Microsoft now reportedly planning to cut its workforce by 3%, affecting around 6,000 to 7,000 of its 228,000 employees.

Speaking to CNBC, a Microsoft spokesman confirmed that, unlike the layoffs they carried out in January, the new round is not performance-based, meaning affected employees likely had no warning and no opportunity to prepare. Similar to Intel, whose plans to fire more than 20% of its workforce – around 22,000 people – recently came to light, Microsoft intends to reduce layers of management and cut down on internal bureaucracy with this move, the spokesman added.

Based on what is publicly known, the new round of layoffs is the biggest since January 2023, when Microsoft fired 10,000 individuals as part of its broader cost-cutting campaign. Notably, those 2023 layoffs were the largest at the time and are widely seen as the moment that marked the beginning of the ongoing wave of layoffs that has plagued the gaming industry for over two years at this point.

More recently, in September 2024, Microsoft also conducted mass layoffs that affected around 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming – just days before announcing an increase in shareholder payouts. Currently, it's unclear how severely this new wave of layoffs will impact Xbox and other game-related initiatives within the company.

What's also unclear is the exact reason why Microsoft decided to conduct layoffs – especially ones not based on job performance – at this particular moment. According to its latest financial statement, the company is actually doing quite well, with revenue up 13% year over year in Q3 FY2025, operating income up 16%, and net income 18% higher compared to the same three-month period last year. The company's stock is also in strong shape, closing on Tuesday at $449.14 per share – just shy of the all-time record $467.56 it set in July 2024.

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