Microsoft to lay off nearly 11,000 employees starting this week: Report

The layoffs would be the latest after Amazon and Meta announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook.

Amid the ongoing layoff season at tech companies, tech giant Microsoft is set to fire nearly 11,000 employees this week citing the global economic slowdown. According to a report in US media, Microsoft is "finalising plans to become the latest technology giant to reduce its workforce during a global economic slowdown".

Thousands of job cuts are expected in human resources and engineering divisions starting Wednesday. The layoffs would be the latest in the US technology sector, where companies including Amazon.com Inc and Meta Platforms Inc have announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook.

Microsoft employs more than 220,000 people, including 122,000 in the United States and 99,000 internationally including 18,000 in India. The company is contemplating reducing roughly 5 per cent of its workforce, "which, if accurate, would equate to approximately 11,000 jobs", the report said. The company will likely announce layoffs on Wednesday (US time), ahead of its quarterly earnings next week, it said.

A Microsoft spokesperson has refused to comment on what it referred to as "rumour." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently warned of two years of challenges ahead for the tech industry. In a recent interview, he admitted Microsoft wasn't "immune to the global changes"."The next two years are probably going to be the most challenging," said Nadella. Several large tech companies have laid off employees recently, with Amazon slashing 18,000 jobs.

Salesforce, the cloud software provider, would cut more than 7,000 jobs. More than 1,600 tech employees are being laid off per day on average in 2023 globally including in India, and the sacking episodes have gained speed amid global economic meltdown and recession fears. The year 2023 has begun on a bad note for tech workers globally and 91 companies have laid off more than 24,000 tech employees in the first 15 days this month, signalling worse days ahead.