Microsoft says it will fire more underperforming employees
Microsoft is preparing to lay off more employees. The company has confirmed that the move will primarily target underperforming employees.
listen to the story
Microsoft is preparing to lay off more employees. People familiar with the matter told Business Insider that the move will primarily target underperforming employees. Although the company has confirmed the news, it has not disclosed the exact number of affected workers. Here are the key details.
A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged the upcoming layoffs and reiterated the company’s focus on high-performing talent. The spokesperson stressed that when employees fail to meet performance expectations, appropriate action is taken.
As part of its strategy, Microsoft evaluates employee performance at multiple levels, even reaching level 80 for some senior employees. According to sources, several departments of the company, including the company’s critical security division, are expected to feel the impact of these job cuts.
The spokesperson also noted that roles left vacant due to these performance-based exits are often filled with new hires, suggesting that Microsoft’s overall headcount may not have changed drastically. By mid-2024, the company employed approximately 228,000 people worldwide.
The move is in line with Microsoft’s long-standing history of workforce restructuring, pursued under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella. Since taking over in 2014, Nadella has overseen several rounds of layoffs, including a major cut that same year that affected 18,000 employees — about 14% of Microsoft’s total workforce at the time.
In recent years, Microsoft has continued to cut strategic jobs in various sectors. In 2023, the company laid off about 10,000 employees across various divisions, including Xbox. Following its high-profile acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is laying off nearly 2,000 employees from its gaming division in early 2024. More cuts were made over the summer, affecting about 1,000 people in its Azure Cloud Services division.
In September 2024, Microsoft further reduced its workforce, with 650 layoffs in its Xbox division, bringing the number of job cuts for the year from its gaming segment to nearly 3,000.
