REDMOND, USA — Microsoft Corporation has announced plans to lay off approximately 6,000 employees, representing around 3 percent of its global workforce, as part of a broader organisational restructuring strategy.
The move, reported by CNBC on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, affects employees across all levels, teams, and geographical regions.
As of June 2024, Microsoft employed 228,000 people worldwide.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC.
“One objective is to reduce layers of management. These new job cuts are not related to performance.”
The announcement follows the company’s recent decision to permanently shut down Skype, its long-standing video and messaging platform, marking the end of an era for a service that had connected users globally for nearly 22 years.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion.
Skype’s discontinuation was first announced on 28 February, with users advised to transition to Microsoft Teams.
The company said users have until January 2026 to migrate their data before it is permanently deleted.
The layoffs are the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures by the tech giant, which, in 2023, cut approximately 10,000 jobs—about 5 percent of its workforce—citing macroeconomic pressures and evolving customer demands.
