Microsoft Cuts Jobs, But Doesn’t Disclose Numbers

Employment, Jobs © Luna Vandoorne Shutterstock 2012

Software giant remains coy about revealing scale of job cuts across its global operations, or even which roles have been axed

Microsoft said on Thursday that it has cut its workforce across geographies and teams after it began its new fiscal year in July.

But according to Reuters, the software giant refused to disclose the number of staff impacted by the job cuts.

However job losses at Redmond likely include those from its retail side, after the firm surprised no-one when it said it would permanently close all Microsoft Store retail locations in the United States and around the world.

Job losses

Another area where Microsoft has been axing jobs has been journalists working for its online news portal, MSN.com.

This news portal has shifted away from humans writing news stories, to an AI-powered algorithmic feed.

Microsoft has also reportedly cut jobs in its Azure cloud division.

Where the firm remained coy about releasing data about the number of jobs lost, Business Insider reported that Microsoft had cut under 1,000 jobs across its business this week.

Microsoft may reveal the number of job losses when it reports its fourth quarter results on 22 July. The firm is currently in its required ‘quiet’ period before reporting its results.

That said, a Microsoft spokesman told Reuters, it is common for the company to re-evaluate its business as it enters a new fiscal year.

Microsoft’s last round of job losses was back in 2017, when it confirmed the loss of thousands of jobs across its global workforce as part of a major reorgnisation designed to push its cloud services.

Most of those were outside the US, and the job losses then disproportionately impacted its sales and marketing teams.

Quiz: How well do you know Microsoft?