Microsoft lays off dozens of WA workers

Microsoft is laying off 40 Washington-based employees, as the company continues to trim its workforce amid record spending on artificial intelligence.

Monday’s layoffs, disclosed in a state filing, are separate from previous announcements of global job cuts. The company announced in May that it was letting go of more than 6,000 workers and made another announcement in July for an additional 9,000 employees.

Microsoft said Monday’s cuts throughout the company were very small.

In Washington, Microsoft has cut 3,160 jobs so far this year, including Monday’s layoffs.

Organizational and workforce changes are a necessary and regular part of managing our business,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”

The company is continuing a run of one of the largest layoffs in its history while reporting record quarterly revenues and profits. Last week, Microsoft’s fiscal year earnings stunned Wall Street, especially for its cloud and AI business.

Microsoft reported last week that it invested $88 billion over the past year to build out its AI infrastructure and plans to spend another $30 billion by the end of September.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed this “incongruence” in a memo to employees last month.

“This is the enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value,” he said. “Progress isn’t linear. It’s dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding.

Despite the waves of layoffs, Microsoft’s head count is relatively unchanged, Nadella said, as the company prioritizes hiring in other parts of its business. Microsoft reported that it had 228,000 employees at the end of June, the same number that it reported last year.