Microsoft Layoffs: Microsoft has reportedly laid off more than 1,000 employees – Times of India

Microsoft has reportedly further reduced the employee headcount by 1,000 over the past week. A report claimed that the latest layoffs are in addition to the 10,000 job cuts that the company announced earlier this year. Last week, the tech giant confirmed that it’s eliminating additional jobs.
Microsoft job cuts: Departments affected
Citing people familiar with the changes, a report by Business Insider claimed that the latest job cuts have affected mostly the sales and customer services departments. The engineering project managers and marketing departments have also been hit.
As part of the job cuts, Microsoft shut its “Digital Sales and Success” group, a sales and customer service team. The company also eliminated the customer solutions manager role and also moved some employees to another role called customer success account management, the report noted.
“The focus is more to accelerate consumption than it is to help customers. What was promoted as one of the largest customer service groups in the industry is now struggling to keep up with demand,” one person familiar with the changes was quoted as saying.
It is also being reported that several managers did not know about the job cuts and many of them learned about job cuts on the day they were made. Previously, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the move is aimed at organisational and workforce adjustments.
“Organisational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritise and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners,” the spokesperson said.
Apparently, the executives did not broadly provide a rationale for the changes. The report, citing internal messages, also suggests that some employees criticised Microsoft chief commercial officer Judson Althoff for not providing enough details about the layoffs. It is feared that the Digital Sales and Success team could be replaced by AI tools.
Job cuts in Seattle area
Last week, another report claimed that Microsoft cut 276 jobs in the Seattle area, following a layoff of 158 employees from its Redmond, Washington, headquarters last month as “a necessary and regular part of managing our business”.
Microsoft also reported in a mandatory filing to Washington state that it laid off 210 employees in the state and 66 remote employees.