Microsoft planning thousands more job cuts in sales amid focus on AI

By Brody Ford and Matt Day

 

Microsoft Corp. is planning to axe thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, as part of the company’s latest move to trim its workforce amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence. 

The cuts are expected to be announced early next month, following the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year, according to people familiar with the matter. The reductions won’t exclusively affect sales teams, and the timing could still change, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter. 

 

The company declined to comment. 

 

The terminations would follow a previous round of layoffs in May that hit 6,000 people and fell hardest on product and engineering positions, largely sparing customer-facing roles like sales and marketing. 

 

In April, the company told employees it planned to use third-party firms to handle more sales of software to small and mid-size customers. 

 

Microsoft has said it regularly reevaluates the organizational structure to make sure it’s investing for growth. As the company spends tens of billions of dollars on servers and data centers, executives have pledged to Wall Street, and warned employees, that it would keep a lid on spending in other areas.

 

The company had 228,000 workers at the end of June 2024, 45,000 of them in sales and marketing. Microsoft often restructures teams and announces other changes near the end of its fiscal year, which closes in June.