Microsoft Launches Fresh Layoff Round, Over 300 Employees Affected

Microsoft has revealed that 305 workers would be let go in another round of layoffs. Less than three weeks have passed since the IT giant laid off over 6,000 workers worldwide in its most recent wave of layoffs. The Washington office's more than 300 workers were let go.

The corporation claims that the most recent layoffs represent much less than 1% of its whole workforce, though it did not confirm whether any additional employees outside of Washington were impacted.

According to reports, Microsoft stated in an official statement that it is making the organisational adjustments required to best position the business for success in a changing environment.

Software Engineers and Product Managers Taken a Massive Hit

According to reports, the majority of the employees affected by this round of layoffs did not have managerial positions. Less than 17% of the impacted employees held management roles, suggesting that software engineers and product managers were the most severely affected.

In less than a month, this is Microsoft's second significant round of layoffs. Over 6,000 positions, or about 3% of the company's global workforce, were cut in mid-May, marking the biggest employment reduction since 10,000 people were let go in early 2023. 1,985 of those recent layoffs were allegedly located in Washington.

When combined with the most recent layoff total of 305, Microsoft has now let go of almost 2,300 workers in Washington this year.

Microsoft has now stated that the more recent layoffs in May were unrelated to individual performance, although the corporation had implemented some performance-based job cuts earlier this year. Instead, the corporation has blamed organisational restructuring for the latest cuts.

Microsoft’s Performance Based Terminations

A distinct issue surrounded the January layoffs as Microsoft was accused of conducting performance-based terminations without providing severance or health benefits in certain instances.

Employees were reportedly given quick termination notices and had their access to corporate systems terminated the same day, according to sources at the time. Microsoft has over 228,000 employees worldwide as of last year.

The corporation claims that the layoffs only affect a small portion of its employees, but the frequent reductions demonstrate how Big Tech companies' priorities are shifting in response to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence.

Many Silicon Valley tech businesses, including Google, Meta, and Amazon, have laid off thousands of workers in 2025 alone.

Microsoft is placing a large bet on artificial intelligence at the same time as its firing frenzy. The business recently revealed plans to invest $400 million in Switzerland to build infrastructure for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Microsoft declared earlier in January of this year that it would invest $3 billion in India to build AI infrastructure there, which would include building new data centres over the following two years.