I need help understanding this article on Inc.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/microsofts-xbox-ceo-just-explained-why-the-company-is-laying-off-9000-people-its-not-great/91209841

Between May and now Microsoft laid off 15,000 employees, stating, mainly, that the focus now is on AI. Some skeptics I’ve been talking to are telling me that this is just an excuse, that the layoffs are simply Microsoft hiding other reasons behind “AI First”. Can this be true? Can Microsoft be, say, having revenue/financial problems and is trying to disguise those behind the “AI First” discourse?

Are they outsourcing heavily? Or is it true that AI is taking over those 15,000 jobs? The Xbox business must demand a lot and a lot of programming (as must also be the case with most of Microsoft businesses. Are those programming and software design/engineering jobs being taken over by AI?

What I can’t fathom is the possibility that there were 15,000 redundant jobs at the company and that they are now directing the money for those paychecks to pay for AI infrastructure and won’t feel the loss of thee productivity those 15,00 jobs brought to the table unless someone (or something) else is doing it.

Any Microsoft people here can explain, please?

• Too much hiring during Covid

• overspending on purchasing game studios

• investing into AI infrastructure with nothing in return

• reducing American workers, hiring offshore workers

• moving from personal growth model to make profit fast model

• Microsoft leadership has lost focus

News Article: https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-layoffs-hit-security-devices-sales-gaming-2025-1

Seems to be not performance based. Meta is doing it too. Are we doing a re-run of 2023?

Microsoft is laying off employees across organizations including security, experiences and devices, sales, and gaming, according to two people familiar with the matter. A Microsoft spokesperson said the layoffs are small but did not specify a figure and unrelated to the job cuts Business Insider recently reported targeting underperforming employees across the company. One of the people familiar with the matter said employees started receiving notifications Tuesday about layoffs in Microsoft's security unit. The group is run by Charlie Bell, a former top cloud executive at Amazon, who stunned the industry when he left for Microsoft in 2021 to lead arevamped cybersecurity effort. Microsoft expanded its Secure Future Initiative last year, making security the top priority for every employee. The change followed years of security issues at Microsoft, including what the Department of Homeland Security called "a cascade of security failures" that allowed Chinese hackers to access emails from thousands of customers. The company also made security a core priority on which employees are evaluated during performance reviews. "If you're faced with the tradeoff between security and another priority, your answer is clear: Do security." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in an email to Microsoft employees last year.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-to-lay-off-as-many-as-9000-employees-in-latest-round/

Microsoft is kicking off its fiscal year by laying off thousands of employees in the largest round of layoffs since 2023, the company confirmed Wednesday.

In an ongoing effort to streamline its workforce, Microsoft said that as much as 4%, or roughly 9,000, of the company’s employees could be affected by Wednesday’s layoffs. It’s unclear how many are based in Washington.

The move follows two waves of layoffs in May and June, which saw Microsoft fire more than 6,000 employees, almost 2,300 of whom were based in Washington.

Microsoft had over 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024.