Global meltdown hits Big Tech: Microsoft lays off nearly one percent of its workforce

It seems that even the biggest and most resourceful tech giants of the world are also not immune to the ongoing global meltdown. Microsoft has become the first among Big Tech firms to trim its workforce in a “realignment” move.  

The Satya Nadella-run tech giant has reportedly laid off nearly 1 percent of its workforce, which is built up of around 1,80,000 employees across divisions and offices. This number would come to around 1,800 layoffs at Microsoft. 

"Today we had a small number of role eliminations. Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly," Microsoft said in a statement to Bloomberg late yesterday.

The company further added that it would continue investments in its business and “grow headcount overall in the year ahead”. 

Hiring has been slowed down in some important divisions of Microsoft, namely Windows, Teams and Office groups. 

Meanwhile, the Bill Gates-founded company reported strong earnings in Q4, registering a jump of 26 percent (year-on-year) in revenue from cloud business.. It reported an overall revenue of $49.4 billion. However, Microsoft trimmed its Q4 revenue forecast and earnings guidance last month. 

Meanwhile, there have been layoffs at some other top firms including Twitter which slashed its recruitment team by 30 percent. Elon Musk’s Tesla has also recently fired hundreds of employees.

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(With inputs from IANS)