Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
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Microsoft announced plans to lay off around 4,800 employees, or 2.1% of its global workforce, on Monday, confirming Business Insider's earlier report.The cuts mostly impact the sales and Xbox gaming organizations, Microsoft HR chief Amy Coleman wrote in an email to employees. Microsoft's Xbox division also plans to cut 20% of its workforce this fiscal year. Xbox will account for 1,600 of Monday's cuts. Microsoft is cutting costs as it spends heavily in AI infrastructure, while facing growing investor concerns that AI could upend traditional software. Those worries helped send Microsoft's stock down 19% in June, its worst monthly performance since the dot-com era.Microsoft typically cuts jobs around the start of its new fiscal year on July 1. Last year, the company eliminated 6,000 roles in May and an additional 9,000 employees, or about 4% of the company's workforce, in July.Microsoft had more than 220,000 employees prior to the cuts.As part of cost-cutting, Microsoft also earlier this year launched a voluntary retirement program offering buyouts to some employees. About one-third of nearly 9,000 eligible employees took the buyout, in line with expectations, according to a person familiar with the program. That allowed Microsoft to cut a lower percentage of its workforce compared to last year, this person added.
