Microsoft Lays Off Poor Performing Employees

Microsoft is cutting a number of roles in response to poor performance, it has been revealed. The tech giant confirmed on Wednesday that a small percentage of jobs across the company would be let go, with the company citing the need to focus on “high-performance talent” as the main driver of the losses.

The announcement caps a testing few months for the tech company, which has recently found itself embroiled in an antitrust case and faced accusations of AI scraping from disgruntled Microsoft 365 users.

As 2025 gets underway, turbulence in the tech sector is showing no signs of abating. With the last few years blotted by layoffs, the ongoing furor over remote work, and AI gaffes, this industry continues to prove a hotbed of news, gossip, and scandal.

Microsoft Announces Job Cuts

Microsoft has announced that a small number of roles across the business will be laid off on a performance basis. This latest wave of layoffs follows similar moves in 2024, including 1,900 employees being let go from the company’s gaming unit in January 2024, following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In 2023, it laid off no fewer than 10,000 workers.

The company confirmed in an email to CNBC that job losses were driven by performance, with Microsoft emphasizing the need for “high-performance talent.” Said a company spokesperson: “We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action.”

Reportedly, less than 1% of the company’s approximately 228,000 employees will be affected. Microsoft did not disclose the total number of layoffs.

Microsoft Under the Microscope

Microsoft has endured a tumultuous recent period. In November 2024, the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into the company, requesting information on almost every facet of its business. The case forms part of a wider crackdown on leading players across Big Tech, most notably Google, that are accused of suffocating competition in their respective arenas.

Elsewhere, the tech giant moved to see off accusations that it was harvesting data from users of its 365 suite of programs. A spokesperson told Reuters: “These claims are untrue. Microsoft does not use customer data from Microsoft 365.”

And its Copilot model has so far failed to make a dent in the AI landscape, which is dominated by OpenAI and its ChatGPT platform. As reported by CNBC, UBS analysts claimed last month that the rollout had “been a bit slow/underwhelming” off the back of the company’s Ignite conference.

More Upset for Big Tech to Come in 2025

The tech sector continues to surprise and delight in equal measure. Last year, mass layoffs plagued companies across the space, with the likes of X, Tesla, Netflix, Amazon, and more forced to make high-profile cuts in order to keep pace in an ever-changing market.

Against this backdrop, the federal government opened a series of landmark antitrust investigations into leading players in the industry, with Google firmly in the crosshairs. TikTok, meanwhile, is facing an imminent ban in the US – unless it can strike a deal with Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary.

With 2025 now underway, the industry looks set to continue making headlines and courting controversy. What’s more, President-elect Donald Trump is now just days away from his second term. With the fate of TikTok hanging in the balance, Elon Musk in his ear, and anti-monopoly rulings in progress, there’s every reason to suspect the news cycle will speed up rather than slowing down.