Microsoft is laying off around 9,000 employees, or roughly 4% of its workforce, in a new wave of cuts as it begins its 2025 fiscal year. This comes after more than 6,000 layoffs in May and June, bringing total cuts to over 15,000 employees globally since spring — one of the company’s biggest layoff streaks in history.
While Microsoft continues to emphasize these layoffs aren’t performance-based, the company says it’s streamlining operations to reduce management layers and boost agility. The cuts affect multiple teams, with reports indicating a heavy impact on sales, marketing, and gaming divisions.
This restructuring unfolds as Microsoft ramps up spending on AI infrastructure, planning to invest over $80 billion this fiscal year — a $25B increase from the previous year. Though the company says AI isn’t replacing workers directly, roles hit by layoffs (including engineers and product managers) are among those increasingly shaped by AI tools.
Despite the cuts, Microsoft posted record profits last quarter and now ranks among the most valuable companies in history, driven by its aggressive push into AI.
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