Microsoft 220000 Layoffs Hit Sales and Xbox Teams

Microsoft – (Web Desk) – Microsoft is preparing to cut thousands of jobs, part of the wider Microsoft 220000 layoffs affecting its huge global workforce. The reductions will target sales, consulting, and Xbox gaming teams. Reports suggest the announcement could come as early as next week.

The company employs close to 220,000 people worldwide. This new round of cuts will affect fewer than one in every 40 workers, roughly 2.5 percent of total staff. Some employees losing their roles may still get a chance to move into other positions inside the company.

Xbox is facing the toughest pressure right now. Asha Sharma, who took over as Xbox CEO earlier this year, told staff the division cannot keep running the way it has been. She called for a full reset of how the gaming unit operates.

Microsoft’s latest earnings report showed gaming income dropped 7 percent, falling to 5.3 billion dollars. Hardware sales took the biggest hit, sliding 33 percent. Revenue from content and services also slipped, down 5 percent during the same period.

Rising costs for game console parts have made things harder. Microsoft has already raised Xbox console prices three separate times over the past year, a move tied to soaring component costs across the industry.

This is not Microsoft’s first wave of cuts. Last year, the company let go of even more workers. Part of that came from a voluntary retirement offer given earlier in the year. That deal was open to U.S. staff at job level 67 or lower, as long as their combined age and years at the company added up to at least 70.

Industry watchers say this year’s job cuts point to a bigger strategy shift. Microsoft appears to be moving money away from employee salaries and into building AI data centers and chips, an area the company sees as central to its future growth.