Microsoft says it is cutting thousands of jobs in second round of layoffs in recent months

Abby Hughes · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 02, 2025 5:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Microsoft says it is cutting thousands of jobs in its second circular of wide layoffs successful recent months.

While the institution didn't specify the nonstop fig of radical who would beryllium losing their jobs, it did accidental it was little than 4 per cent of its full workforce, which would beryllium astir 9,000 radical astatine most. (The institution employed 228,000 radical arsenic of June 2024.)

Microsoft besides did not straight respond to a question from CBC News astir however galore Canadian jobs were mislaid arsenic a effect of the layoffs, but said the cuts were happening crossed antithetic teams and locations.

However, Carmel Smyth, president of the Canadian Media Guild, said the national doesn't judge immoderate of the 120 employees it represents at Montreal-based Bethesda Game Studios (owned by Microsoft) volition beryllium impacted. She besides says the cuts volition likely affect Microsoft's U.S. studios for the astir part, but added "any downsizing of workers successful this profitable and booming manufacture is highly disappointing." (The Canadian Media Guild besides represents CBC employees, and Smyth is connected permission from her relation arsenic a shaper with the CBC).

Microsoft said the cuts volition impact aggregate teams astir the world, including its income part and its Xbox video crippled business. On the whole, the gaming industry has seen occupation losses in caller years. 

"We proceed to instrumentality organizational changes indispensable to champion presumption the institution for occurrence successful a dynamic marketplace," a spokesperson said in an email.

WATCH | Hundreds laid disconnected successful Canadian video crippled industry: 

The reductions travel aft Microsoft archetypal laid disconnected immoderate 6,000 employees successful May. It besides chopped different 300 workers based retired of its Redmond, Wash., office successful June. And successful 2023, it laid disconnected 10,000 people, oregon 5 per cent of its full workforce.

The cuts announced successful May were heavy focused successful bundle engineering and merchandise absorption roles, according to lists the institution sent to employment agencies successful Washington and California — where the cuts besides deed Microsoft offices successful the San Francisco Bay Area.

The institution has repeatedly said its caller layoffs are portion of a propulsion to trim its absorption layers, but the May absorption connected bundle engineering has fuelled worries astir however the company's ain AI code-writing products could trim the fig of radical request for those jobs.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this twelvemonth that "maybe 20, 30 per cent of the code" for immoderate of Microsoft's coding projects "are astir apt each written by software."