Microsoft set for another round of layoffs — Xbox Division in focus

Looks like Microsoft is gearing up for another round of job cuts and this time the Xbox division might be taking the hit. If it goes ahead, this will be the fourth major layoff the tech giant has carried out in just the last 18 months. 

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The move comes as part of a larger company-wide reshuffle, right before the end of its financial year.

Sources say the announcement might come just before June 30, which is when Microsoft wraps up its financial year. This is usually when companies take a closer look at how things are going and move teams around. So, it’s not completely unexpected but still a tough time for employees waiting to hear what’s next.

The Xbox division has already gone through quite a few cuts in the past year. In 2023, after Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion some gaming studios were shut down and many roles were changed. Now it seems like the company is tightening things up again maybe to make sure everything fits into their new plans.

And it’s not just gaming. There’s talk that Microsoft could cut jobs in global sales and other departments too. Just last month in May, the company let go of about 6,000 employees, mainly from product and engineering teams. Back then, sales and marketing folks were mostly safe, but this time, they could be part of the mix.

So why all these changes? One big reason is Microsoft’s heavy investment in AI and cloud tech. They’re putting tons of money into building data centres and working on artificial intelligence tools. To keep spending under control, they are looking for ways to cut costs in other parts of the company.

Some of those cost saving changes have already started. Back in April, Microsoft said that software sales for smaller businesses would be handled by outside companies instead of their own teams. It’s clear they are trying to shift focus to newer more future-ready areas while cutting back on what they see as less essential.

Right now Microsoft has around 2.28 lakh employees worldwide including about 45,000 in sales and marketing. So even if just a portion of those teams are affected this could turn out to be one of the biggest internal shake ups  in a while.

The company hasn’t confirmed the layoffs officially yet, but it has said that it regularly reviews its workforce to match long-term goals. And recently there’s been a lot of talk from leadership about staying efficient and cutting unnecessary spending as well.