Microsoft layoffs hit its Silicon Valley workforce

Microsoft is slashing its Silicon Valley workforce.

The tech giant, which is based successful Washington but besides has Bay Area offices, is cutting 122 positions successful Silicon Valley, according to a layoff announcement sent to the California Employment Development Department this week.

Microsoft cited a reorganization and restructuring wrong the institution arsenic the crushed for the occupation cuts.

Bay Area Microsoft employees, who volition suffer their jobs successful July, were moving remotely oregon retired of offices successful Mountain View and Santa Clara, Calif. Microsoft besides owns LinkedIn, a societal web for professionals, that is based successful Sunnyvale.

The layoffs successful California marque up a fraction of the 6,000 workers the Redmond-based tech institution is cutting. Microsoft said Tuesday that it’s shedding astir 3% of its planetary workforce, making it 1 of the company’s largest occupation cuts successful 2 years. It’s the latest successful a bid of layoffs that proceed to rattle the tech manufacture since 2022.

The occupation cuts travel arsenic the emergence of artificial intelligence, which tin besides make code, is raising questions astir however exertion volition interaction bundle engineers and different workers.

Software engineering roles made up 53% of Microsoft’s occupation cuts successful Silicon Valley, according to information provided to the EDD. Positions successful merchandise management, applied sciences, electrical engineering and different fields were besides eliminated.

In April, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said that arsenic overmuch arsenic 30% of the company’s codification is written by AI during a speech with Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg astatine the societal network’s AI developer conference.

Zuckerberg has besides said that helium thinks AI volition beryllium capable to constitute codification similar a mid-level technologist successful 2025.

As Microsoft competes with different large tech companies specified arsenic Google and Meta to merchandise much fashionable AI-powered tools, the institution said it’s trying to summation however accelerated it moves by reducing the fig of managers.

“We proceed to instrumentality organizational changes indispensable to champion presumption the institution for occurrence successful a dynamic marketplace,” Jeff Jones, a Microsoft spokesperson, said successful a statement.

The institution besides said it’s trying to trim redundancies portion besides empowering employees to walk clip connected much meaningful enactment by leveraging technology.

As of June, Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers and much than fractional of those workers were successful the United States, the company’s yearly study said.

Microsoft reported gross of $70 cardinal for the 3rd 4th of its fiscal twelvemonth ending successful March, a 13% summation compared to the aforesaid play past year. The company’s nett income was $26 billion, up 16% twelvemonth implicit year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.