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Microsoft is set to lay off thousands of employees today. Citing Sky News, Reuters reported that thousands of roles would be cut, with the software giant looking to cut around 5 per cent of its workforce or about 11,000 roles.
Thousands of job cuts are expected in human resources and engineering divisions on Wednesday. The layoffs would be the latest in the US technology sector, where companies including Amazon.com Inc and Meta Platforms Inc have announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook.
The company had 221,000 full-time employees, including 122,000 in the United States and 99,000 internationally, as of June 30, according to filings.
Microsoft is under pressure to maintain growth rates at its cloud unit Azure, after several quarters of the downturn in the personal computer market hurt Windows and devices sales, reported Reuters.
It had said in July last year that a small number of roles had been eliminated. In October, news site Axios reported that Microsoft had laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions.
Shares of Microsoft, which is set to report quarterly results on January 24, were marginally higher in late afternoon trading, reported Reuters. Microsoft’s move could indicate that the tech sector may continue to shed jobs.
