By Oyintari Ben
According to the company, which confirmed the news, Microsoft announced layoffs for almost 1,000 employees on Monday.
The move represents the most recent indication of fragility among some of the biggest American computer firms amid ongoing inflation, concerns about a recession, and stock market difficulties.
Shares of Microsoft have decreased by about 30% so far this year. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index has fallen by more than 31%.
Microsoft said that the job losses it disclosed on Monday affected a variety of positions, responsibilities, and geographical areas.
The corporation said in a statement that “like all organizations, we examine our business goals on a regular basis and make structural adjustments accordingly.” In the upcoming year, “We will continue to invest in our business and hire in important growth areas.”
Despite being significant, less than 0.5 percent of the company’s 221,000 employees worldwide were impacted by the job losses that were disclosed on Monday.
The reductions came after a round of layoffs in July that affected fewer than 1% of the staff of the organization.
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft’s most recent quarterly profits, which were announced in July, fell short of market expectations, generating $51.9 billion in revenue as opposed to the predicted $52.4 billion.
Prior to this year, Microsoft saw phenomenal growth as a result of the epidemic, when people and businesses started turning to its products due to an increase in time spent at home.
Microsoft’s stock price increased by nearly 107% between March 2020 and December 2021.
However, a slowdown in the economy and a persistent return of some pre-pandemic consumer habits have damaged several internet companies this year. While shares of Facebook parent company Meta have decreased by 61%, shares of rival cloud computing company Amazon have decreased by around 30% this year.
Following the end of the markets on Tuesday, Microsoft will release its most recent quarterly profits.
