Microsoft to Cut Thousands of Jobs in Azure and Other Teams Amid Restructuring
Microsoft is planning to lay off thousands of employees across various departments, mainly in its Azure cloud division, according to a report by Business Insider. These job cuts are part of a larger restructuring process that the company begins at the start of every fiscal year. This year, Microsoft’s fiscal year started on July 1, 2025.
As per the report, teams like Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering will be affected. The Azure for Operators team alone might see up to 1,500 job cuts. These units fall under the Strategic Missions and Technologies group, which was formed in 2021 to focus on areas like quantum computing and space.
Company spokesperson said, “Organizational and workforce adjustments are necessary and regular parts of managing our business. We are continuing to invest in future growth areas and support for our customers and partners.”
Apart from Azure, Company is also restructuring its mixed reality team. However, the company will continue to sell its HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, even though it cancelled plans for HoloLens 3 back in 2022.
On Wednesday, Microsoft confirmed it will be laying off around 9,000 employees, which is less than 4% of its global workforce. These job cuts will take place across different departments, locations, and experience levels. In total, Microsoft had around 2.28 lakh (228,000) employees as of June 2024.
Earlier this year, Microsoft already went through multiple rounds of layoffs:
- In January, the company laid off less than 1% of staff based on performance.
- In May, over 6,000 employees were let go.
- In June, at least 300 more people were laid off.
- Back in 2023, Microsoft had cut around 10,000 jobs.
- Its biggest layoff happened in 2014, when it removed 18,000 roles after buying Nokia’s devices and services business.
According to reports, Company is also removing layers of management to make the company more agile and efficient. The aim is to reduce the number of managers between employees and top-level executives.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also mentioned in a memo that they are ending or reducing work in certain areas to focus on strategic growth and long-term success. He said this will follow Microsoft’s broader effort to cut extra management layers.
Despite all these changes, Company remains highly profitable. In the March 2025 quarter, it reported $26 billion in net income on $70 billion in revenue, beating Wall Street expectations. For the June quarter, executives predicted 14% year-over-year revenue growth, especially due to strong performance in Azure cloud services and corporate software subscriptions.
On June 26, Microsoft stock reached a record high of $497.45, though it dropped slightly (0.2%) on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index rose by 0.5%.
Other tech companies like Autodesk, Chegg, and CrowdStrike have also cut jobs in 2025. On the same day, ADP (a payroll company) reported that the U.S. private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June, even though economists had expected an increase of 100,000.