Microsoft Lays Off Up to 7,000 Employees

Microsoft is laying off nearly 3% of its global workforce, affecting between 6,000 and 7,000 employees across departments and regions, including LinkedIn and its R&D hub in Israel. This marks Microsoft's largest layoff since January 2023, when 10,000 employees were let go. The cuts are part of efforts to streamline organizational structure, reduce management layers, and maintain agility amid heavy investment in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and rising operational costs. Microsoft leadership emphasized that the layoffs are not performance-based and are intended to position the company for long-term competitiveness. Despite strong financial results, the tech giant is responding to global economic uncertainties and increased spending on data centers. Similar workforce reductions have recently been announced by other tech firms, including Meta and CrowdStrike.