microsoft layoffs 2025 reddit - Brave Search

How Are Microsoft’s January 2025 Layoffs Different (for the Worst)

reddit.com › r › microsoft › comments › 1ienult › how_are_microsofts_january_2025_layoffs_different

I know people personally who were affected. None of them had any indication of "low performance". They received annual bonuses and positive reviews. One even asked for specific performance metrics for promotions and was given vague responses stating they were on a promotion track and to keep doing what they were doing. In the end, this is a callous layoff under the guise of "low performances" so they can justify culling thousands of people with no severance and leaving them without insurance or a high amount of earned stock set to divest again in two weeks. Answer from bestedmom on reddit.com

reddit.com › r/microsoft › how are microsoft’s january 2025 layoffs different (for the worst)

r/microsoft on Reddit: How Are Microsoft’s January 2025 Layoffs Different (for the Worst)

December 25, 2024 -

When Satya Nadella became the CEO of microsoft, it was believed he will be different. He himself told in interviews about the importance of empathy. Where has the empathy suddenly disappeared?

https://deepseeks.medium.com/how-are-microsofts-january-2025-layoffs-different-for-the-worst-aa454f061315

Why is Microsoft behaving like service based companies who do not value their employees. It has labelled many good employees as low performers and then fired. How will this affect their careers?

I know people personally who were affected. None of them had any indication of "low performance". They received annual bonuses and positive reviews. One even asked for specific performance metrics for promotions and was given vague responses stating they were on a promotion track and to keep doing what they were doing. In the end, this is a callous layoff under the guise of "low performances" so they can justify culling thousands of people with no severance and leaving them without insurance or a high amount of earned stock set to divest again in two weeks.

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

reddit.com › r/layoffs › tech layoffs: microsoft cuts 15,000 jobs in 2025, pushes remaining staff to embrace ai

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Tech layoffs: Microsoft cuts 15,000 jobs in 2025, pushes remaining staff to embrace AI

July 13, 2025 -

https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-tech-layoffs-microsoft-cuts-15000-jobs-in-2025-pushes-remaining-staff-to-embrace-ai-3911172/

Maybe they should get co-pilot to work first

My bosses have pulled me into an elite sales group. They’ve given us a special title. We have t-shirts. We were flown out to headquarters and met with leadership. We were given special access to operations. We were given special access to video software and marketing tools. We were encouraged to film our sales process to find ways to eke out efficiency to allow us to do more. We were asked to share our email templates to a coach to allow him to help us make it even better. We were asked to write out our scripts, transitional phrases, and our processes. We were asked to share those with our coach all with the mission to allow us to do more deals. I got suspicious. Are they training AI on our materials to replace us or to give scripts to lesser paid sales folks to replicate? Probably. So I’m sabotaging it. Like Michael Scott roledex.

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reddit.com › r/cscareers › microsoft lay offs 9000 workers, announced in july 2025

r/cscareers on Reddit: Microsoft lay offs 9000 workers, announced in July 2025

May 3, 2025 -

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/microsoft-layoffs-9000-workers/

Don't worry guys, it's going to get worse before it gets worse.

Related news: Microsoft requests for 6,000+ H1B workers. They want Americans replaced by cheap foreign labor as the H1B’s are paid close to 80% below market.

reddit.com › r/artificialinteligence › what is the real explanation behind 15,000 layoffs at microsoft?

r/ArtificialInteligence on Reddit: What is the real explanation behind 15,000 layoffs at Microsoft?

July 6, 2025 -

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?

Most likely because some person/s bonuses are tied to cost cutting or "productivity" targets that can be achieved through the lay-offs.

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/07/03/microsoft-lays-off-the-staff-who-make-the-money-to-fund-ai-that-doesnt/ Nadella is a true believer, and he is also wrong. They definitely aren't having revenue problems, but they want to throw so much money at AI that they have to make these layoffs to pay for building their Azure server farms. It's not that they think AI can replace those employees. It's that they think AI is going to make them so much money, it's worth cannibalising other parts of their business for in order to scale up the infrastructure as fast as possible.

reddit.com › r/microsoft › layoffs again.. may 2025

r/microsoft on Reddit: Layoffs again.. May 2025

April 1, 2025 -

I saw a rumor online that layoffs were starting May 12th for middle managers and May 13th for ICs. Anyone have any insight?

Update: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/microsoft-is-cutting-3percent-of-workers-across-the-software-company.html

So sorry to those impacted today. I was hoping these rumors weren’t true.

Those who speak don’t know. And those who know don’t speak.

Nothing solid, but a large % of security customers I work with went into (20+) went into huddle mode for the past month unexpectedly. Impromptu meetings for service quote conversations and cancelations of meetings left and right, long after the Fiscal Fiascos that we dread at the turn of each year. Brush up the CV and prepare to jump ship before they sink it with you on it!

reddit.com › r/microsoft › the primary causes of microsoft layoffs

r/microsoft on Reddit: The primary causes of Microsoft layoffs

July 10, 2025 -

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

IMO the key reason is culture change being driven at the top. Satya has been hiring a bunch of external talent who have brought in their culture. Jay Parikh from Meta, the COO from Walmart, Charlie Bell from Amazon, Mustafa, Kevin Scott and the LinkedIn folks. It's just Scott and Rajesh in the SLT that are MSFT long-timers, no other internal promos. So Satya is counseled by people with different styles, often a very retail-like culture and that's leading to a bunch of good cultural attributes falling by the wayside when push comes to shove

It's just greed/reduction at this point. They're firing qualified people left and right.

reddit.com › r/layoffs › microsoft rif laid off employees' eligibility for rehire

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Microsoft RIF Laid off employees' eligibility for rehire

September 25, 2025 -

I was laid off from Microsoft in May 2025 with my employment officially ending in July 2025. My severance clearly stated that I’m eligible for rehire.

However, it seems the FY’25 Rewards were published recently (managers finalize them by June 30), and my entry shows 0 rewards, likely because I was no longer part of the rewards cycle after being laid off. Now, a recruiter told me that because of this “0 Rewards” entry, I’m showing up as not eligible for rehire, and they had to revoke my verbal offer.

I’m trying to understand if this is a system or HR error, since:

I had 100% rewards in FY’24,
My severance letter explicitly says I’m eligible for rehire, and
My termination was due to RIF, not performance.

~~EDIT: I’ve already opened a ticket with HR Assist and reached out to my former manager (no response yet).~~
~~Any advice on what else I can do to escalate or fix this?~~

UPDATE: HR Assist confirmed that I’m eligible for rehire and for FY’25 rewards. They also corrected the eligibility status on my profile (I received a screenshot). The recruiter verified that they can now see my eligibility but said the offer had already expired.

However, they still haven’t provided any details on how my status was changed or who updated it, despite my repeated requests and citing my right to full disclosure of all records related to my employment.

Does anyone has any recommendations for employment lawyers?

Idk but I was riffed in 2012 along with 1200 people in my org and I interviewed several times and then was ghosted. I ran into the recruiter one night at a bar and she told me that I was listed in the system as "embargo" which meant I couldn't be rehired. This was despite a good review history and the riff was because the entire product was shut down. Hopefully not the same for you. Seems they don't want us back despite performance.

Back in the teens I was laid off there and learned that as a result I was frozen out of any reward, as they had laid off my boss as well, and my layoff was attached to his. My financial advisor as the time told me this was typical and to expect no bonus if you are laid off there, even though the layoff is not performance-based. Anyway, a couple of years afterwards I was approached for another role, and I elected not to pursue it, then a year later they reached out again, and this time I bit. As soon as I restarted, my prior tenure was reinstated as if nothing ever interrupted it. Unless the rules have changed, and MSFT violated protocols with that "low performance" announcement on layoffs, you need to look into this.

reddit.com › r/layoffs › microsoft layoffs - shocking !!

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Microsoft Layoffs - Shocking !!

May 14, 2025 -

FIRING…even Satya’s DP might need this banner now.

Microsoft just cut about 6,000 roles

roughly 3 % of the company (May 13)

reason? fewer managers, more builders.

the goal is to pump cash and head-count straight into AI.

what it means for us:

– margins > headcount

– titles fade, skills don’t

– layoffs ≠ failure.

sometimes life just says: reboot.today’s banner: FIRINGtomorrow: EXIT MODEsoon: REBOOTING

Heard through a friend that someone found out they got laid off because they couldn’t access the repo. No warning, no email, no nothing. Might have come later, who knows. But this layoff was nasty. Zero basic decency.

These corporations have layers upon layers of managers having the mission of improving the "company culture" and "developing the team members". But everybody has the anxiety pushed to the maximum. The cards has been shown, the bullshit has no sense now, nobody believes anymore that companies actually have "values" or "principles", nor that they care about the employees development. The companies are basically at war with the employees, holding appearances has no purpose anymore. Hence, they don't need those layers anymore, everything is in plain sight and brutal now.

Find elsewhere

Google Bing Mojeek

reddit.com › r/stocks › microsoft is cutting 3% of all workers

r/stocks on Reddit: Microsoft is cutting 3% of all workers

November 8, 2024 -

Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels and geographies.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

The company reported better-than-expected results and an upbeat quarterly forecast in late April.

Microsoft had 228,000 employees at the end of June, meaning that the move will affect thousands of employees.

It’s likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of 10,000 roles in 2023. In January the company announced a small round of layoffs that were performance-based. These new job cuts are not related to performance, the spokesperson said.

One objective is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said.

On Monday, Microsoft shares stopped trading at $449.26, the highest price so far this year. They closed at a record $467.56 last July.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/microsoft-is-cutting-3percent-of-workers-across-the-software-company.html

Raised prices on Xbox’s for tarriffs then cut workers 🤔

Interested if they're mostly laying off American workers and offshoring.

reddit.com › r/layoffs › microsoft mulls more job cuts, this time focused on managers and non-coders, not just low performers, sources say

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Microsoft mulls more job cuts, this time focused on managers and non-coders, not just low performers, sources say

August 31, 2024 -

More to come guys... stay safe

Tjhere's this saying, the first one in the door gets bloody. As far as I know it came from dude kicking in doors in Iraq. Anyhow in this recession it was really developers who were the first ones affected probably b/c they made a lot of moeny and people were jealous of them so they were an easy target but now we're going to see these layoffs spread to other sectors.

Automation and offshoring. Keep an eye on quality of products, service, and documentation.

reddit.com › r/layoffs › i was part of the most recent microsoft layoffs. the company culture shifted heavily when ai became monetized.

r/Layoffs on Reddit: I was part of the most recent Microsoft layoffs. The company culture shifted heavily when AI became monetized.

August 1, 2025 -

I was in M365 Core working on the Copilot Data Platform team which basically is the infrastructure that Copilot runs and gets its data trained from.

I started in 2022 before Copilot or even ChatGPT were even a thing really and the company I started at vs the one that I ended with is like two completely different entities.

Before 2024, the growth chart for a SWE at the company was a lot more holisitic, focusing on growing through people skills, technical understanding and having my manager help me get to the next level. I managed to get to an L60 which is one off from SWE II, but right after I promoted the company shifted into this AI-driven mindset where the growth chart changed to start emphasizing performance metrics and throughput. The problem for me was that it was hard for me to find ways to actually improve these metrics because of our team was heavily DevOps focused with only a few people on my team working on features that could actually generate meaningful performance metrics.

Every single 1:1 my manager was asking me how much I was using the AI tools we have at our disposal, how many PRs I was completing a week, how many PR reviews I was doing a week, and pushing me to do talks on my experiences using AI as a developer. My manager even acknowledged that a recurring complaint from our team was the amount that we don’t get to code stuff compared to DevOps related work which cannot be factored into PR metrics.

Looking back, it is crazy that once Copilot surfaced as a CLEAR cash cow for the company, they went into overdrive into this performance-based mindset.

I’m not writing this to bash on anyone or anything because I genuinely did enjoy my time there, but I’m not gonna act like Copilot/AI hasn’t shifted the company into a less holistic version of itself. The main thing I’m sad about is that I lost like $30k of stock that was part of my signing agreement and with how these financial reports are coming out that would have been so much damn money to sit on for the next 3-5 years since Microsoft is doing incredibly well from a business standpoint with no signs of slowing down.

They need to prove that AI works so they can sell it. You were the demo, so this will continue as a product demo. Once they are done, their customers will start.

I have friends telling me Microsoft was forcing employers to use co pilot for everything. Was that true? Surely you would want people to either use or or not use it naturally and then interview the people who didn’t use it and then find out why

reddit.com › r/xbox › breakdown of all july 2nd 2025 xbox layoffs

r/xbox on Reddit: Breakdown of all July 2nd 2025 Xbox layoffs

July 2, 2025 -

9000 employees have been laid off across Microsoft

4th major mass lay offs at Xbox in 18 months

The Initiative closed, Perfect Dark cancelled

Rare hit with layoffs, Everwild cancelled, Banjo Kazooie and Sea of Thieves Director leaves Rare

50% of Turn 10 laid off

King and Zenimax hit with lay offs, new Zenmiax online IP cancelled

Multiple call of Duty Studios hit with lay offs

50% of Xbox user research team laid off, head of child and family saftey laid off

9000 employees were laid off across Microsoft, not just Xbox.

May want to correct this 9000 were laid off around microsoft. At max 2000 were from xbox

reddit.com › r/technology › tech layoffs hit 100,000+ in 2025: intel, microsoft, meta, and more slash thousands of jobs

Tech Layoffs Hit 100,000+ in 2025: Intel, Microsoft, Meta, and More Slash Thousands of Jobs : r/technology

June 2, 2025 - You can feel how you want about the reason behind the layoffs, but I don’t think people realize how much big tech over hired during COVID. I’m not going to try to change your view, but I think having the raw numbers is important to having an informed opinion. Between 2020 and 2022 just Microsoft, Google, and Meta alone hired nearly 200k employees.

reddit.com › r/technology › microsoft's brutal layoffs hit software engineers, product managers and its director of ai

r/technology on Reddit: Microsoft's Brutal Layoffs Hit Software Engineers, Product Managers and Its Director of AI

May 19, 2025 - What Microsoft's AI chat bot has to say abut Microsoft. ... The age of AI layoffs is already here. The reckoning is just beginning ... Companies are blaming AI for job cuts. Critics say it’s a 'good excuse' ... Accessibility Reddit, Inc. © 2025.

reddit.com › r/microsoft › why working at microsoft may no longer be worth it (2025)

r/microsoft on Reddit: Why Working at Microsoft May No Longer Be Worth It (2025)

February 8, 2025 -

In 2023, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela made a notable statement on the company’s internal Yammer platform: “The most important lever for almost all our employees’ compensation upside is the stock price.” Below article looks into it.

Why Working at Microsoft May No Longer Be Worth It (2025)

This philosophy tied employees’ financial futures directly to Microsoft’s stock performance.
With negative one year returns, layoffs without severance is it worth to stay at microsoft.

There's not many individual contributors that actually move the stock needle. I think that statement is a high-level statement. Probably more aimed at teams of people rather than an individual. If you can get into the company, I would highly recommend it. Yes, layoffs without severance is a relatively new idea which wasn't happening when I was there, but there was other ways to lay one off without actually firing one then. My time at msft was both the best career in my life and something less than that at others. However, I have worked much worse jobs than MSFT. The key once you get in is to find a good manager and try and stick with them. I left during the Ballmer era because upper management had an attitude towards long-term employees. They were purposely looking to get us out of the company. Luckily Nadella came along and saved the company. I'm sure it's a very different place to work now, but it still is likely the best out there.

MS is lower comp and less benefits than other big tech in the area. In the last decade of gangbusters hiring, if you could get a better offer you'd have been crazy not to take it. Stability was never a question back then because you could line up a trio of offers for your next gig at any time. But all of big tech is a shitshow right now. Amazon enacted strict RTO (more like 5/2 hybrid 😉). Meta's Zuck is going full alt-right. Pretty much all of FAANG are laying off yearly despite historic high profits, and razing their core businesses to chase AI snake oil. Hiring processes are run by overseas contractors that make getting into the interview pipeline nearly impossible no matter your resume. At this point, if you've got an MS job, just hold on for dear life. Things are crazy out there right now, and MS is holding back the insanity better than most.

reddit.com › r/technology › microsoft lays off 6,000+ employees for non-performance reasons

r/technology on Reddit: Microsoft lays off 6,000+ employees for non-performance reasons

May 14, 2025 - ... “With Microsoft having around 228,000 employees at the end of June 2024 (the latest reported number), that’d mean around 6,000 to 6,800 people being let go, according to CNBC.”

reddit.com › r/layoffs › microsoft plans to lay off over 1,000 employees in july as restructuring continues

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Microsoft Plans to Lay Off Over 1,000 Employees in July as Restructuring Continues

February 9, 2025 - Microsoft Announces Layoffs of Approximately 6,000 Employees\ \ \ On May 13, 2025, Microsoft revealed pla...

reddit.com › r/layoffs › microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts

r/Layoffs on Reddit: Microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts

March 26, 2025 -

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/microsoft-laying-off-about-9000-employees-in-latest-round-of-cuts.html

👀

Damn. They just cut 6K jobs a few months ago.

JFC. Microsoft what is you doing. So this is what, over 15k total now this year? I say over because last month there were a few hundred after the 6k cut in May. This already surpasses the 10k RIF back in 2023..

reddit.com › r/microsoft › msft cutting pms

r/microsoft on Reddit: MSFT cutting PMs

October 25, 2024 -

Recently accepted an entry pm (US) job within security (start the fall). Will I be affected?

Define PM. Product manager, program manager, or project manager?

I wish we had more. Devs often suck at communication, planning, organizing with partner teams, etc snd that work is falling more and more on us. It sucks. Let us code.

reddit.com › r/microsoft › microsoft lays off 6,000

r/microsoft on Reddit: Microsoft lays off 6,000

October 10, 2024 -

3% of worldwide - about 6,000 people

workforcehttps://www.geekwire.com/2025/microsoft-cuts-nearly-3-of-global-workforce-about-6000-jobs-in-latest-push-for-efficiency/

I’m expecting to be laid off in an hour. Got invited to a mysterious meeting by my CVP with a ton of people on it plus an HR director. Edit: yes, it was a layoff, not performance based. I’m not going to share more details for now

I've survived quite a few, but not this one. Fuck.