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Microsoft has laid off nearly 1,000 employees worldwide amid fears of a recession, becoming just the latest major tech company to do so.
The layoffs represent less than half of 1 percent of the company’s 221,000 employees globally, ABC News reports.
But the job cuts affect everything from Microsoft’s Xbox console gaming division to its cutting edge Microsoft Strategic Missions and Technology organization, according to Business Insider.
Some former employees have now taken to Twitter to share their unfortunate news, with even KC Lemson, a longtime employee and product manager in the office of the Chief Technology Officer sharing that she was affected.
The news comes as shares of the tech company fell nearly 30 percent over the past year amid persistent inflation and decreased demand for products as people return to their offices.
Microsoft has laid off nearly 1,000 employees worldwide, affecting people in various locations and in a variety of departments
Executives said in a statement that it ‘makes structural adjustments’ according to its business priorities. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is pictured here in 2020
Stock prices of the tech giant have fallen nearly 30 percent over the past year
In a statement, Microsoft executives said: ‘Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly.
‘We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.’
With the announcement, Microsoft is just the latest company to cut its workforce amid rampant inflation.
Microsoft executives previously announced in July that it was laying off less than 1 percent of its workforce and significantly slow hiring, as its revenue fell short of investor expectations.
The company recorded only $51.9 billion in revenue during the second quarter of the year, but was expected to rake in $52.4 billion.
It had previously recorded blockbuster growth during the COVID pandemic, when consumers and businesses turned to its products as they shifted to a work-from-home model.
In fact, ABC News reports, from March 2020 through December 2021, Microsoft’s stock prices rose 107 percent.
But an economic slowdown and a shift to pre-pandemic consumer habits have hurt major tech companies like Microsoft, which is expected to release its latest quarterly earnings report next Tuesday.
Former employees took to Twitter to share that they were laid off from the company
The layoffs come just two weeks after Amazon officials announced they were putting a hiring freeze on its corporate roles in its retail sector to rein in costs.
The company had instructed recruiters to close all open job postings for those roles and has recommended putting a hold on recruiting activities such as phone calls to screen new candidates, according to a report by the New York Times.
Company spokesman Brad Glasser said in a statement that there are however a significant number of open roles across the company’s other sectors.
‘We have many different businesses at various stages of evolution, and we expect to keep adjusting our hiring strategies in each of these businesses at various junctures,’ said Glasser.
Under Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who took over the position a little over a year ago, the company has been pulling back on spending in a bid to trim costs during its weakest growth in more than two decades.
According to The New York Times Jassy, recently told investors that the company had focused on controlling the cost and efficiency in its warehouse and logistics operations.
Amazon saw a sharp rise in demand during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic but, as with other companies that flourished during the crisis it has seen decreased sales as shopping patterns return to pre-pandemic levels.
During the pandemic, Amazon pushed its workforce to more than 1.2 million people globally, up 50 percent from 2019.
But in recent months, Amazon has closed or canceled the launch of new facilities, and it’s delaying the opening of some new buildings after its pandemic-driven expansion left it with too much warehouse space.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (pictured) said the company has been pulling back on spending in a bid to trim costs during its weakest growth in more than two decades
Meanwhile, reports earlier this month suggested that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also planning to lay off up to 12,000 underperforming employees after initiating a review process in which managers were asked to label workers that ‘need support.’
Zuckerberg previously said in a Q&A with employees that the company would extend its hiring freeze that had been in place since May, saying steps would be taken to reduce costs.
But a Facebook spokesperson denied that 12,000 employees faced being sacked, describing the Insider report that brought them as ‘inaccurate’.
In response they pointed to Zuckerberg’s previous comments from an earnings call two months ago in which he said: ‘Many teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas.’
Mark Zuckerberg is also reportedly planning to lay off up to 12,000 underperforming Facebook workers after initiating a review process last week in which managers were asked to label workers that ‘need support’
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced that it would be closing its office space at 225 Park Avenue South to cut costs
At the same time, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced that it would be closing one of its New York offices as part of a plan to reduce growth and cut costs by at least 10 percent in the coming months.
The company will end its lease of the 200,000 square foot office space at 225 Park Avenue South in the Flatiron district of Manhattan.
‘Two twenty-five Park Avenue South has served as a great bridge space to get us to our new offices at Hudson Yards and Farley,’ said Meta Spokesperson Jamila Reeves in an email statement, confirming the company’s plans to give up the space.
The closure comes as Meta have been combining New York office spaces and in advance of plans for its enormous 1.5 million square foot Hudson Yards office.
It is part of a shift in the company’s approach to office space in New York and is the latest in a series of changes that signal intentions to scale down and decelerate growth in the city.
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