Microsoft Cuts 6,000 Jobs: “It’s Needed to Succeed in a Dynamic Market”

ROME – Microsoft is cutting 3% of its workforce. Translated: about 6,000 employees , if we consider that at the end of last June the IT giant had 228,000 workers . The reductions affect all levels and all geographic areas, and also include LinkedIn .

The decision was announced by a company spokesperson to CNBC, according to whom the initiative would be dictated by the need to "best position the company and achieve success in a dynamic market". Although, it should be remembered, the company reported better-than-expected results , with 25.8 billion dollars of net income in the first quarter of the year and optimistic forecasts at the end of April.

The newly announced layoffs are likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since 2023, when it cut 10,000 jobs. In January, the company announced a small round of performance-based layoffs. But these new cuts — according to the spokesperson — are not performance-related.

The Redmond giant has come under pressure in recent years due to the huge expenditures made for data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence. In this fiscal year alone, it should spend 80 billion dollars on its brains. Massive investments that have pushed investors and shareholders to ask for a containment of expenses , while at the same time making the organizational structure leaner.

Several tech companies have announced job cuts this year. Meta did so in January, announcing a 5% reduction in its workforce based on performance reviews. Crowdstrike made similar cuts, while Saleforce reduced its workforce by 1,000 to make room for new AI positions.

Microsoft is also busy reviewing the contract that binds it to the startup OpenAI . One of the sticking points in the negotiations is what share Microsoft will have in a restructured OpenAI , in which it has invested more than $13 billion so far. Microsoft and OpenAI are linked by the contract signed in 2019, when Redmond invested $10 billion in OpenAI. The agreement expires in 2030.