Microsoft is cutting a total of around 1,000 jobs across the company, in areas including its Azure cloud unit and HoloLens mixed-reality organization, a person familiar with the matter confirmed Monday afternoon.
The cutbacks come as Microsoft tries to maintain its profit margins amid heavier capital spending, which is designed to provide the cloud infrastructure needed to train and deploy the models that power AI applications.
Microsoft employed about 227,000 people worldwide at the end of the 2023 calendar year, down from 232,000 a year earlier, according to numbers tracked by GeekWire based on regulatory filings and earnings calls. Headcount at the end of March was about 1% lower than a year earlier, CFO Amy Hood told analysts.
The layoffs in the Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering teams were first reported by Business Insider.
However the total number of employees impacted by the cuts across the company was closer to 1,000 people, which is a smaller reduction overall than initially reported for the Azure units alone, according to the knowledgeable person who spoke with GeekWire on condition of anonymity.
In a statement, Microsoft confirmed that it made job cuts in its Mixed Reality organization, which includes the HoloLens mixed-reality headset:
“Earlier today we announced a restructuring of the Microsoft’s Mixed Reality organization. We remain fully committed to the Department of Defense’s IVAS program and will continue to deliver cutting edge technology to support our soldiers. In addition, we will continue to invest in W365 to reach the broader Mixed Reality hardware ecosystem. We will continue to sell HoloLens 2 while supporting existing HoloLens 2 customers and partners.”
Addressing the overall cutbacks, a separate statement from the company said, “Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”
Microsoft laid off nearly 2,000 employees in January in its gaming unit, three months after the tech giant completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company’s largest acquisition ever.
