According to a report by The Information, Microsoft has cut about 150 cloud sales specialists from a team tasked with encouraging medium-sized businesses to use cloud services like Azure server rentals and Microsoft 365 productivity apps. These layoffs are part of the company’s plan to reduce its workforce by 5% and come after the announcement in January that Microsoft would cut 10,000 jobs by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
The layoffs were not just limited to the cloud sales team, but LinkedIn, a company owned by Microsoft, has also initiated layoffs in its recruiting department. Earlier, Microsoft had also cut jobs in its hardware divisions, including HoloLens, Surface, and Xbox teams. The company has been forced to take drastic measures to restructure itself as it seeks to align its business with changes in the tech industry.
In a blog post, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that many companies in various industries worldwide are exercising caution due to the possibility of a recession in some parts of the world. Nevertheless, the tech giant would continue to invest in strategic areas and allocate both capital and talent to areas of secular growth. Nadella also mentioned that Microsoft would continue to hire in key strategic areas.
Microsoft is among the growing list of companies that have announced layoffs in recent months, including Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, Salesforce, and Intel. The latest layoffs at GitHub, a software collaboration platform owned by Microsoft, saw the company lay off up to 10% of its workforce and close all of its offices, including its San Francisco headquarters. The company also announced that it would continue its hiring freeze and make several other internal changes to safeguard the short-term health of its business.
