According to Bloomberg, Microsoft plans to lay off thousands of employees again by July 2025. This layoff will focus on the sales team, but the detailed number of layoffs and department distribution has not been announced. According to the company's statement, the move is to "better respond to dynamic markets" and improve overall operational efficiency.
Microsoft said that layoffs will be announced before July 2025, and the timing may be slightly adjusted. This change comes at a time when the company is investing heavily in key areas such as AI, cloud computing and Copilot. The simultaneous adjustment of sales and organizational structure is particularly critical.
This is not the first time Microsoft has made large-scale manpower adjustments. In May this year, Microsoft announced that it would lay off about 6,000 employees worldwide, accounting for about 3% of the total number of 228,000 employees. Regarding the reasons for the layoffs, a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement: "We continue to implement the necessary organizational changes to enable the company to succeed in a dynamic market." The spokesperson specifically pointed out that the layoffs are not related to performance. It is understood that the layoffs mainly affect middle-level management positions and non-technical positions such as sales, marketing and recruitment, involving multiple departments and regions, including subsidiaries such as LinkedIn and Xbox. Among them, the number of layoffs in Redmond, Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered, is the largest, about 1,985 people.
Earlier, Microsoft has carried out multiple rounds of layoffs. In January 2024, after Microsoft completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the game department laid off 1,900 people to eliminate redundant positions. In January 2023, Microsoft laid off 10,000 people, accounting for about 5% of the total number of employees, affecting multiple core teams, including mixed reality (MR) projects.
Although Microsoft emphasized that the multiple rounds of layoffs were aimed at improving efficiency and focusing on key businesses, it still raised concerns about Microsoft's corporate culture and employee morale.
