Microsoft lays off over 15,000 employees in a matter of months

Published: 2025-07-02 11:11:58 ET MSFT

Published on 07/02/2025 at 11:11

By Esteban Tesson

After an initial wave of 6,000 layoffs, no fewer than 9,000 employees have just been told to go by Microsoft. The Redmond-based company is relentlessly pursuing its cost-cutting policy.

Microsoft has launched a new round of job cuts, this time affecting around 9,000 employees, or nearly 4% of its workforce, according to a company spokesperson. This second wave, which marks the year 2025, is part of a deliberate strategy to reduce costs and simplify hierarchical levels. The stated aim is to "streamline processes and reduce hierarchical levels." The group says it wants to "continue the organizational changes necessary to best position the company and its teams in a dynamic market environment."

According to Bloomberg, these layoffs will mainly affect sales teams, but some divisions such as Xbox will also be impacted. They follow a previous wave in May, which affected 6,000 employees, particularly in the product and engineering teams. In addition, 2,000 employees deemed underperforming were released shortly thereafter, as revealed by Business Insider. As of June 30, 2024, Microsoft had 228,000 employees, including 45,000 in sales and marketing. The company typically carries out restructuring at the end of its fiscal year, which ends in June.

Esteban Tesson