After an apparent calm in the world of Big Tech, Microsoft surprises by announcing a new round of layoffs in addition to the previous one carried out in January. On that occasion, the company had to do without 10,000 employees, becoming one of the largest personnel reductions in the sector.
as you remember xataka In his report, at the beginning of 2023, the company led by Satya Nadella had a workforce of 220,000 employees worldwide. However, after the layoffs in January, which represented a 5% reduction in the workforce, Microsoft was left with 210,000 employees globally.
In addition, they implemented adjustments in compensation for full-time employees, freezing wages and cutting bonuses and incentives in certain positions to maintain the company’s investment capacity in the race for artificial intelligence (AI). Now, a new wave of layoffs is adding to the storm.
More than 200 employees laid off
Microsoft’s recently confirmed layoffs, according to CNBC, specifically target the division dedicated to the hardware line and sales services, reaffirming changes the company anticipated in January. Specific, there are 276 employees in the Washington offices, of whom 66 work remotely.
With this measure, the company begins its fiscal year by reorienting its strategy in a computer market that has not recovered after the sales boom experienced during the pandemic.
In addition to the restructuring in the line of computers and hardware, another argument of the company for these layoffs is the consolidation of leases. That is to say, optimize the space occupied by its offices to adapt to a reality that has changed since Januarywith a reduction of more than 10,000 employees.
In figures, this situation in Redmond is generated after profits close to 53,000 million dollars in the first quarter of 2023. However, the company acknowledges a downward revision for the second quarter, with a drop from 7.1% to 6.7%.
The waves of layoffs in large companies are not due to an economic or financial crisis in these companies that are forced to reduce staff to avoid bankruptcy. In this case, the reason behind the layoffs was overhiring during the pandemic, where companies like Meta were overhiring to attract competing talent.