Microsoft began laying off thousands of employees, targeting less than 3% of its global workforce in a move to streamline operations and reduce management layers.

Microsoft is reportedly laying off about 3% of its entire workforce. Multiple outlets, including CNBC and The Verge, reported the news May 13. USA TODAY has reached out to Microsoft for comment.

Microsoft says nearly 3%, or more than 6,000 in its workforce, is being cut as other tech giants have recently acted similarly.

Microsoft trims layers of management to boost team agility, with business units like Xbox and LinkedIn also affected by the organizational changes.

Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers Tuesday, nearly 3% of its entire workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years as the company spends heavily on artificial intelligence.

Microsoft has announced massive layoffs, affecting over 6,000 employees, mostly from its gaming and Xbox divisions. This is more than 3% of their workforce, and the company says it is an organisational change.

The technology company, headquartered in Washington, is cutting 122 workers in Silicon Valley. The layoffs heavily affected software engineering roles.

In comparison, 2024 saw around 1,50,000 job cuts across 549 companies. In May 2025, big tech companies Amazon, Google, and Meta announced reductions in certain divisions while Microsoft announced its biggest round of job cuts since 2023, with over 6,000 employees being laid off across its businesses.

In Washington state, software engineers made up more than 40 per cent of the roughly 2,000 positions cut. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.