Microsoft is preparing to cut thousands more jobs in the next few weeks, marking its second major round of layoffs in just over a month. According to a report from Bloomberg, the cuts will affect several departments but are expected to hit the company’s sales team the hardest.
The news comes shortly after Microsoft eliminated 6,000 jobs across the company, a move it said was aimed at reducing management layers. At the time, the sales and marketing teams were largely spared. This new round, however, seems to be a direct result of a shift in the company’s sales strategy.
In April, Microsoft informed employees that it planned to outsource marketing and sales to third-party firms for its small and mid-sized customers. This would enable the company to rely on temporary gig workers instead of full-time staff, thereby reducing operational costs.
While it’s unclear if there is a direct connection, the layoffs are occurring as Microsoft vows to spend over $80 billion to build massive data centers for its artificial intelligence development.
This isn’t just happening at Microsoft. The news is part of a worrying trend across the tech industry. Amazon’s CEO recently announced that AI agents will replace a significant number of jobs at the company, and Intel is also planning to lay off a large portion of its factory workforce due to its financial struggles. It looks to be a tough road ahead for many tech workers.
