Between 11,000 and 22,000 people worldwide may lose their jobs - this is 5-10% of the company's total staff, which numbers approximately 220,000 employees. There is no official confirmation yet, but reports from employees indicate that the cuts will primarily affect the Azure cloud division, the Xbox gaming division, and the global sales department.
The reason cited is a revision of Microsoft's financial strategy. The company is reallocating resources in favor of developing artificial intelligence and is sharply increasing investments in technology. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 alone, capital expenditures reached almost 35 billion dollars, and by the end of the year, they may exceed 80 billion.
Funding is being transferred from the payroll fund to the construction of data centers, the purchase of processors, and the development of AI tools. Middle managers and teams working with outdated products are at the greatest risk. At the same time, positions related to AI research remain relatively stable.
The possible reductions follow a profitable period: in recent quarters, Microsoft has received about 75 billion dollars in net profit.