Microsoft to Announce Major Xbox Layoffs Next Week
▼ Summary
– Microsoft is planning layoffs in its Xbox gaming division and other business areas, with cuts expected as early as next week.
– Managers have been briefed about the upcoming layoffs, which will also impact Microsoft’s sales organization at the start of a new financial year.
– The company is restructuring parts of its Xbox business, including distribution in central Europe, leading to reduced operations in some regions.
– These layoffs follow previous cuts, including 6,000 in May and over 300 earlier this month, continuing a trend of gaming-related job reductions over the past 18 months.
– Microsoft has already laid off significant numbers of employees in 2024, including 1,900 from Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January and 650 more Xbox employees in September.
Microsoft is reportedly preparing for significant job cuts within its Xbox division, with layoffs expected as early as next week. The move comes as part of broader restructuring efforts across the company’s gaming business, signaling potential shifts in strategy ahead of its next-generation console plans. Sources indicate that managers have already been briefed on the impending reductions, which may also affect Microsoft’s sales teams at the start of the new fiscal year.
The restructuring extends beyond personnel changes, with adjustments to Xbox distribution in central Europe that could lead to scaled-back operations in certain regions. These upcoming layoffs follow a series of workforce reductions over the past year and a half, including 6,000 job cuts in May and over 300 earlier this month. The gaming industry as a whole has faced turbulence, with Microsoft itself eliminating 1,900 positions across Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January 2024, followed by the closure of multiple studios, including Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin.
Additional workforce reductions have been a recurring theme for Microsoft, with 650 Xbox employees let go in September and another 1,000 cuts impacting HoloLens and Azure cloud teams in mid-2023. The latest round of layoffs underscores ongoing challenges in the gaming sector, where even industry giants are streamlining operations amid shifting market demands. While details remain scarce, the restructuring suggests Microsoft is prioritizing efficiency as it prepares for future hardware and software developments.
(Source: The Verge)
