Microsoft Begins Second Round of Mass Layoffs

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft is firing thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months.

The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday.

The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago.

Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division and its Xbox video game business.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” it said in a statement.

Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year.

Until now, at least, the biggest was in May, when Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spent heavily on artificial intelligence.

Microsoft also cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond, Washington headquarters in June, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the Puget Sound region in May, according to notices it sent to Washington state employment officials.

The May layoffs were heavily focused on people in software engineering and product management roles.