Data show that Microsoft cut 16000 jobs in nine months, higher than the layoff target announced in January

According to news on October 26, Microsoft's global workforce fell to 215500 as of September 30, 2023, more than 16000 fewer than the peak of 232000 at the end of 2022 and far exceeding the company's plan to cut 10, 000 jobs in January.

Us media calculated Microsoft's latest headcount, according to a statement by Amy Hood, Microsoft's chief financial officer, on the company's earnings call on Tuesday.

Mr Hood said at the time that Microsoft's workforce was down 7 per cent from a year earlier. Although the company did not mention the number of employees in its financial report, the figures can be obtained by looking at historical data and previously disclosed data.

In January, Microsoft announced 10, 000 job cuts, or about 5% of its workforce, as part of a wave of layoffs across the technology industry at the time. In July, after the end of fiscal year 2023, the company confirmed further layoffs in its customer service, support and sales divisions, but did not disclose the size of the layoffs at the time.

The latest statistics do not include Activision Blizzard employees. As of December 2022, the company had 13000 employees. Microsoft officially acquired the gaming giant on October 12, after the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (ending September 30, 2023).

The massive layoffs at Microsoft come as the company seeks new growth opportunities in cloud computing and artificial intelligence and tries to rein in costs. Operating expenses rose only 1% to $13.3 billion, according to Microsoft's quarterly results released Tuesday local time.

Microsoft reported a 27% increase in first-quarter profit of $22.3 billion and revenue of $56.5 billion, both of which exceeded Wall Street expectations.