Microsoft is planning to cut thousands of jobs as it ramps up spending on AI, according to Bloomberg.
This news comes just one month after the company axed 6,000 jobs worldwide, a three per cent reduction in its workforce. It also laid off 10,000 employees in 2023.
Bloomberg reports that the new wave of layoffs is expected to be announced in early July, right after the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year. Many of these jobs are expected to be in sales positions, although it’s unclear what other roles might be affected.
Microsoft had 228,000 employees at the end of June 2024, 45,000 of which were in sales and marketing. Earlier this year, the company said it plans to invest US$80 billion (about C$110 billion) on data centres that could handle AI workloads, although it noted in its last earnings call in April that it had cut back on that spending. Still, Microsoft spent approximately US$21.4 billion (about C$29.4 billion) on AI in the first three months alone — $1 billion less than the previous quarter, but still a major sum.
During that April earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella noted the consistently high demand for cloud and AI and is tweaking its investments based on efficiency improvements in computing systems accordingly.
Source: Bloomberg
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