Microsoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, as it joins other tech companies in a scaling back of their pandemic-era expansions. The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the layoffs were a response to "macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities." The company said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and consolidating its leased office locations. The loss of employees is far less than how many Microsoft hired during the COVID-19 pandemic as it responded to a boom in demand for its workplace software and cloud computing services as people worked and studied from home.
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writers
E-commerce giant Amazon and business software maker Salesforce are the latest U.S. tech companies to announce major job cuts. Amazon said Wednesday that it will be cutting about 18,000 positions. It's the largest set of layoffs in the Seattle-based company's history, although just a fraction of its 1.5 million global workforce. Salesforce is laying off about 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce. Major technology companies are pruning their payrolls that they rapidly expanded during a two-year boom spurred by pandemic lockdown. Meta Platforms announced in November that the Facebook and Instagram owner would by laying off 11,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce.
