Microsoft to cut 4,800 jobs, joining the wave of AI

Microsoft is cutting about 2.1% of its workforce, or roughly 4,800 jobs, the latest in a wave of tech layoffs as the Windows maker spends heavily on AI infrastructure and ​uses the technology to improve efficiency across its business.

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The cuts will primarily impact Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division, according to an email sent to Xbox employees Monday that the company posted online.

“After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27,” wrote Asha Sharma, the new head of Microsoft’s gaming division. “This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management.”

Microsoft’s commercial division will also be impacted by the reductions, according to an email to staff from executive vice president and chief people officer Amy Coleman that was obtained by NBC News.

Big Tech’s historic AI outlays, set ‌to top $700 billion this year, are piling pressure on companies to show returns from the technology and offset the rising cost of rolling it out across their businesses. Amazon and Meta Platforms have also laid off thousands ​of employees this year.

Microsoft announced the cuts on Monday following a rough stretch, with its shares ​falling nearly 23% in the first six months of 2026, their worst first-half ⁠performance since 2022.

The software giant earlier this year offered voluntary buyouts to about 7% of ​its U.S. workforce, or about 9,000 employees. Microsoft often trims jobs near the end of its fiscal ​year in June as it sets spending plans for the new year.

Booming AI demand has powered growth at Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing business, which was the exclusive seller of OpenAI’s models until April, but the mounting cost of ​building data centers to run those services is squeezing its cash flows.

The company, expected to report ​results later this month, had in April forecast quarterly Azure sales above Wall Street estimates, but also issued ‌a $190 billion ⁠spending projection for 2026 that massively surpassed expectations.

AI tools that can increasingly automate routine business tasks have also emerged as a threat to its lucrative software business, while a surge in memory chip prices driven by data center demand has forced Microsoft to raise Xbox console prices at ​a time when demand for ​the console was ⁠already soft.

Sharma said last month that the business needed a “reset” and that its profit margin had declined to 3%, forcing ​a restructuring that could include potential mergers and acquisitions.

“Excluding Activision Blizzard King, over the ​past five ⁠years, we have spent over $20 billion on ongoing investments in our content, platform and hardware subsidy, but our annual revenue has declined nearly half a billion during that time,” she said in an outspoken ⁠memo ​to employees published on Microsoft’s website. “Going forward, this cannot continue.”