Microsoft May Cut 5–10% Jobs in January 2026: Reports
- Despite strong financial results, Microsoft may still lay off employees. - Reports suggest that the third week of January may be the week of layoffs at Microsoft. - The Gaming, Azure, and Sales departments are likely to be affected.
2026 has just begun, and so have the job cuts in tech. According to reports by the ET and HR Digest, Microsoft might cut jobs in January 2026. The third week of January may witness the first round of cuts. The departments that would be affected are gaming, Azure, and sales. The number can be from 5% to 10% of Microsoft’s total workforce. Not just that, the company is asking the employees to work from the office at least 3 days a week. The employees living within 50 miles of Microsoft’s headquarters are mandated to attend the office by the end of next month. A lot seems to be happening at Microsoft. Learn more.
Is Microsoft Really Cutting Jobs This January?
The news first came out from Blind, which is an anonymous professional networking platform. Here, several employees share and discuss their internal (company-related) information. Soon after, several other reports surfaced, including the HR Digest. However, Microsoft didn't confirm or clarify anything on the same. Hence, an official announcement is due from Microsoft.
Possible Reasons Why Microsoft May Cut Jobs This January
As of June 2025, Microsoft's total workforce was 228,000 full-time employees (worldwide). And the company already cut around 15,000 employees. An ET article reports that Microsoft may cut its workforce by about 5% to 10% (assuming the reported layoffs occur). And the company wants to do this because:
- Microsoft wants to reduce middle management (apparently, there are too many managers, say ~1:5.5 ratio).
- It wants the middle management to be like one manager per 10 coders.
- It aims to increase the number of individual contributors, such as engineers and developers.
- The reports do not point fingers at Microsoft's finances for this layoff.
How’s Microsoft Doing Financially?
Microsoft has been in good shape financially. It is now valued at about $3.64 trillion, with robust investment plans in place to boost AI adoption. The company made a $3 billion investment in India in January 2025 and announced plans to increase it to $17.5 billion between 2026 and 2029.
Final Thoughts...
Although the reports have come from major sources such as HR Digest, nothing has been confirmed yet. It isn't surprising that layoffs would occur (as common as they are in tech), but they weren't clearly anticipated this soon. So, let's wait till we officially know that's true. For more updates, keep in touch.
Adepu Bindu
Must have tools for startups - Recommended by StartupTalky
- Convert Visitors into Leads- SeizeLead
- Website Builder SquareSpace
- Manage your business Smoothly Google Business Suite
