Athira Sethu
Kochi, 2 July 2026
Microsoft seems to be gearing up for yet another round of job layoffs that might begin next week. As per the report published in Business Insider, the company may lay off less than 2.5% of its employees.
Although 2.5% sounds like a small figure, a lot of workers can actually be impacted due to the fact that Microsoft has a huge number of employees working there.
As on June 30, 2025, Microsoft has about 228,000 full-time employees. A 2.5% job layoff will translate into laying off several thousand employees at Microsoft.
As per the report published in Business Insider, job cuts may impact employees working in sales, consulting, and Xbox gaming department. The above departments are likely to see the most job cuts in Microsoft. However, Microsoft did not confirm the report.
In the last few months, most of the larger companies in the United States have been downsizing their labor force. This has been prompted by changing market conditions and the companies in various sectors such as tech, media, and finance are saving on their costs. Many of the companies have also been investing vast sums of money in the development of new products through Artificial Intelligence (AI). In order to save on costs, they have decided to downsize their labor force in various departments.
Microsoft had previously downsized its labor force on several occasions. In July 2025, Microsoft announced a layoff of almost 4 percent of its workforce. This was one of the largest layoffs in the company’s recent history.
Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division has also been experiencing difficulties. This month, Bloomberg reported that there were plans of major layoffs and cost reductions within the Xbox. This includes a reduction in marketing budgets among others. Microsoft has raised prices of its gaming consoles all over the world due to high costs.
