- Microsoft is reportedly axing over 1,000 employees in its Azure for Operators unit
- The company cut more than 10,000 jobs last year
- It is apparently shifting to focus more on AI
Less than two months after posting double digit revenue and profit growth in its fiscal Q3, Microsoft once again pulled out the ax. The company is reportedly laying off hundreds of workers in its Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering units.
A Microsoft representative confirmed the cuts, telling Fierce in a statement "Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners."
Business Insider reported as many as 1,500 employees in the Azure for Operators unit could be impacted by the cuts, though it is not entirely clear how accurate that figure is. In a separate piece, Business Insider noted a leaked memo from Azure executive Jason Zander indicated the layoffs are part of an effort to realign the company around its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.
Fierce could not find any current state WARN notices indicating where the layoffs might be taking place.
In January 2023, Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 employees, joining other tech companies in a wave of layoffs that kicked off the year. It has continued to trim at the edges in smaller numbers since then, despite continuing to rake in tens of billions of dollars in revenue and profit.
However, it’s not the only one.
Alphabet, which cut 12,000 jobs last year, also reportedly slashed another 100 jobs from its Google Cloud unit this month. That despite the cloud unit being one of the company’s fastest growing.
And in April, Amazon Web Services culled several hundred employees across its Sales, Marketing and Global Services (SMGS) organization.
Though cloud continues to grow, all three hyperscalers have shifted their attention to AI. During their recent earnings calls, Alphabet and Microsoft laid out plans to ramp capital spending to meet AI demand for cloud infrastructure.