Microsoft to lay off 6,000 employees in July

By Alimat Aliyeva

Microsoft is set to cut approximately 6,000 jobs worldwide as the company adapts to shifting dynamics in the global technology market, Azernews reports.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company in response to evolving market conditions,” a Microsoft spokesperson told media outlets. Of the planned layoffs, around 2,000 positions will be cut at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The reductions, which are expected to begin in mid-July 2025, will primarily impact management and administrative roles.

This is not Microsoft’s first major downsizing. In January 2023, the company laid off 10,000 employees, citing similar reasons related to strategic realignment and cost-efficiency.

According to sources, these ongoing restructuring efforts are being driven in part by the rising operational costs associated with powering data centers, which are essential to support the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) services. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has previously emphasized that AI is now capable of handling many tasks that were once managed by human employees, contributing to a shift in how resources are allocated.

As of now, Microsoft employs approximately 228,000 people globally, so the upcoming layoffs represent about 3% of its total workforce.

While the job cuts reflect the challenges many tech giants face in balancing growth and efficiency, they also signal Microsoft’s continued pivot toward AI-first innovation. The company has heavily invested in OpenAI and integrated generative AI into its flagship products like Microsoft 365, Azure, and GitHub Copilot.

These strategic shifts suggest that Microsoft is not downsizing simply to save money, but rather restructuring for the next phase of technological transformation, in which automation and AI take center stage. However, the transition also raises important questions about job displacement, workforce retraining, and the human cost of digital progress — challenges that many global tech firms will have to navigate in the coming years.