“Microsoft’s 2025 layoffs revolve around its desperate $80 billion AI infrastructure investment.”
atape_1 on
“15k layoffs due to general economic cooling portrayed as AI guided so that it can be spun in a positive light to shareholders.”
There I fixed it for you.
rossc007 on
This is all smoke and mirrors for the markets – I’d love a demonstration on how they are using AI to “replace” these folks
Marathon2021 on
Ugh. Shite blog spam…
> Microsoft announced in May 2025 that it would lay off **over 6,000 employees**, or about 3 % of its global workforce at that time. Then in July it disclosed another round impacting around **9,000 employees**, bringing the total to at least ~15,000 so far.
We’ve known all of this for ~3 months now.
Me_Krally on
Hopefully Microsoft and google eat themselves because so far I’ve done everything I can to rid their AI from my computer. It has been the opposite of helpful and I prefer to use my human brain to do my thinking.
trinialldeway on
This is an outdated and incorrect article, really should not have been posted. Amazon had a huge layoff last week, 14K people, with some reports going as high as 30k. Not listed at all. Also the Geico layoffs are not really layoffs if they’re happening over a “broader time-span”. That’s the company ramping up unregretted attrition over time. Still terrible for the economy, but it’s silly to include it because then you could include SO MANY other companies that are letting people go more aggressively on a rolling basis.
zer0thrillz on
I’ve stopped funding my 401k in protest of this bullshit. I don’t know why there isn’t more acknowledgement of this problem thats being created by the investor class. We’re basically all paying into our own doom by passively putting money into the S&P.
Kbearforlife on
Anyone who thinks that roles will not be increasingly replaced at a rapid pace if it increases profits at the end of the line across all sectors and industries is simply ill informed. I know this is Reddit and there are not very many people here who object this, but it’s inevitable.
I just wish there was something I could do other than attempt to learn to work with models and advance to a better position that way. It just seems ao daunting to triple back on education.
These kids growing up in 2100….2200…are going to have a hell of a life. Or maybe I am filled with fear and copium
Redd_Hunter on
We’ve seen this song and dance before. They’ll rehire people overseas once their AI projects fail
Pretty_Confidence718 on
Everyone’s arguing it’s not really due to ai but does it really matter? Hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing. This is becoming dangerous
Immortal_Tuttle on
So it costs them $5.3million to reduce employment by 1?
holy_battle_pope on
So they spend a butt load of money on AI but no one wants to use it so now they gonna fire people to make some profit, is that about right?
sebaajhenza on
If any other major player does this, then it could be an indication of a gentleman’s agreement to lower wages across the board.
Ie: Flood the job market with supply and you’re then free to renegotiate baseline wages when rehiring. Cost savings for all the boys!
NoiceM8_420 on
General rule of thumb, any company stating sweeping cuts are due to progress made with AI, check to see how many jobs they’ve just offshored or are about to…even AI will never beat cheap labor.
xyrer on
It would take around 40 years to pay 80bn to those 15k people if you paid 120k a year
ZealousidealWinner on
What is it with Microsoft. How it is possible that every time I read anything on them, it makes me want to facepalm.
ArtistDependent4767 on
The layoffs are to cover the missive expenses in AI.
There is no doubt efficiency gains in AI, but it is not at the levels advertised by these companies. They are just trying to justify the layoffs and advertise the gains of AI.
ChiefStrongbones on
Tech companies are in a continuous cycle of hiring and firing. It’s like breathing; every year they inhale new talent, and exhale employees they no longer want to employ.
They do these large layoffs because of labor laws. If you fire employees in small numbers, they can sue you for wrongful this or that. But if you eliminate job roles in bulk during a Reduction in Force, then the company has better legal protection.
Tech companies publicly blaming AI for their layoffs is just marketing.
ProductivityPhoenix on
I am interested in how it actually shakes out. I’m analytics/operations and we have looked at AI a lot. Most times it’s very expensive or super limited in what it tells us where it’s not worth it. Someone new to tools or will help support but after 3-6 months in a role it isn’t. Short term crutch with little long term impact from my area.
19 Comments
“Microsoft’s 2025 layoffs revolve around its desperate $80 billion AI infrastructure investment.”
“15k layoffs due to general economic cooling portrayed as AI guided so that it can be spun in a positive light to shareholders.”
There I fixed it for you.
This is all smoke and mirrors for the markets – I’d love a demonstration on how they are using AI to “replace” these folks
Ugh. Shite blog spam…
> Microsoft announced in May 2025 that it would lay off **over 6,000 employees**, or about 3 % of its global workforce at that time. Then in July it disclosed another round impacting around **9,000 employees**, bringing the total to at least ~15,000 so far.
We’ve known all of this for ~3 months now.
Hopefully Microsoft and google eat themselves because so far I’ve done everything I can to rid their AI from my computer. It has been the opposite of helpful and I prefer to use my human brain to do my thinking.
This is an outdated and incorrect article, really should not have been posted. Amazon had a huge layoff last week, 14K people, with some reports going as high as 30k. Not listed at all. Also the Geico layoffs are not really layoffs if they’re happening over a “broader time-span”. That’s the company ramping up unregretted attrition over time. Still terrible for the economy, but it’s silly to include it because then you could include SO MANY other companies that are letting people go more aggressively on a rolling basis.
I’ve stopped funding my 401k in protest of this bullshit. I don’t know why there isn’t more acknowledgement of this problem thats being created by the investor class. We’re basically all paying into our own doom by passively putting money into the S&P.
Anyone who thinks that roles will not be increasingly replaced at a rapid pace if it increases profits at the end of the line across all sectors and industries is simply ill informed. I know this is Reddit and there are not very many people here who object this, but it’s inevitable.
I just wish there was something I could do other than attempt to learn to work with models and advance to a better position that way. It just seems ao daunting to triple back on education.
These kids growing up in 2100….2200…are going to have a hell of a life. Or maybe I am filled with fear and copium
We’ve seen this song and dance before. They’ll rehire people overseas once their AI projects fail
Everyone’s arguing it’s not really due to ai but does it really matter? Hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing. This is becoming dangerous
So it costs them $5.3million to reduce employment by 1?
So they spend a butt load of money on AI but no one wants to use it so now they gonna fire people to make some profit, is that about right?
If any other major player does this, then it could be an indication of a gentleman’s agreement to lower wages across the board.
Ie: Flood the job market with supply and you’re then free to renegotiate baseline wages when rehiring. Cost savings for all the boys!
General rule of thumb, any company stating sweeping cuts are due to progress made with AI, check to see how many jobs they’ve just offshored or are about to…even AI will never beat cheap labor.
It would take around 40 years to pay 80bn to those 15k people if you paid 120k a year
What is it with Microsoft. How it is possible that every time I read anything on them, it makes me want to facepalm.
The layoffs are to cover the missive expenses in AI.
There is no doubt efficiency gains in AI, but it is not at the levels advertised by these companies. They are just trying to justify the layoffs and advertise the gains of AI.
Tech companies are in a continuous cycle of hiring and firing. It’s like breathing; every year they inhale new talent, and exhale employees they no longer want to employ.
They do these large layoffs because of labor laws. If you fire employees in small numbers, they can sue you for wrongful this or that. But if you eliminate job roles in bulk during a Reduction in Force, then the company has better legal protection.
Tech companies publicly blaming AI for their layoffs is just marketing.
I am interested in how it actually shakes out. I’m analytics/operations and we have looked at AI a lot. Most times it’s very expensive or super limited in what it tells us where it’s not worth it. Someone new to tools or will help support but after 3-6 months in a role it isn’t. Short term crutch with little long term impact from my area.