Microsoft is cutting around 4,800 roles, or about 2.1% of its global workforce, mostly from its Xbox gaming division.
In a blog post, chief people officer Amy Coleman said that the roles eliminated “are not being replaced by AI” but did concede that the technology is “changing how work gets done”. This includes automation of some tasks and a need to continue “adapting as the work evolves”.
Like its contemporaries, the firm is heavily invested in AI and plans to spend roughly $190bn (£142bn) on data centres, powerful hardware, and securing massive energy grids in 2026 alone. This represents a 61% increase from last year.
The job cuts will lead to a number of closures, while four Xbox game development studios – Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Ninja Theory and Undead Lab – are being spun off to operate independently. The sweeping lay-offs at Microsoft will see more than 1,600 roles axed immediately at Xbox, with the shuttered studios leading to another 1,600 losses this year. The...