Microsoft has initiated a massive wave of layoffs, with around 10,000 employees being cut from the company, including members of Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda. These cuts are partly a response to the company over-hiring during the pandemic, as it brought on extra staff to help answer the demand for working-from-home software solutions.
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The tech sector is currently witnessing layoffs in some of the biggest companies in the world and Microsoft is no exception. According to AP News, Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees as part of “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities,” as it shrinks the workforce that grew during COVID-19 and the lockdowns that happened during the pandemic. Bloomberg has confirmed that these cuts will include staff members from Xbox divisions, as well as Bethesda.
Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies in the world, with a market cap of over a trillion dollars. There is also the ongoing Microsoft & Activision Blizzard merger, which will cost around $69 billion to complete. Microsoft isn’t hurting for money, but it’s hardly the only business entity making massive cuts like these. Over the past few months, Amazon, Meta, and Twitter have had similar layoffs, with thousands of people in the tech industry losing their jobs with the richest business organizations on the planet.
These massive tech companies hired a lot of people during the pandemic, thanks to a sharp and unexpected increase in demand. Now that the world has returned to normal, the demand isn’t as strong as it once was, and it’s no surprise that workforces are being downsized as a response. This is cold comfort to the people who will lose their jobs with a company that is spending billions of dollars in a bid to own Call of Duty and Candy Crush, and we hope that everyone affected by these layoffs quickly finds employment elsewhere.
Published: Jan 18, 2023 01:01 pm