Microsoft joins AI-driven tech layoff wave with 4,800 job cuts

Microsoft is cutting about 2.1% of its workforce, or roughly 4,800 jobs, as the Windows maker spends heavily on AI infrastructure and uses the technology to improve efficiency across its business. The company announced the cuts on Monday following a rough stretch, with its shares falling nearly 23% in the first six months of 2026, their worst first-half performance since 2022.

Earlier this year, the software giant offered voluntary buyouts to about 7% of its U.S. workforce, or about 9,000 employees. Microsoft often trims jobs near the end of its fiscal year in June as it sets spending plans for the new year. Booming AI demand has powered growth at Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing business, which was the exclusive seller of OpenAI's models until April, but the mounting cost of building data centers to run those services is squeezing its cash flows. The company, expected to report results later this month, had in April forecast quarterly Azure sales above Wall Street estimates, but also issued a $190 billion spending projection for 2026 that massively surpassed expectations. AI tools that can increasingly automate routine business tasks have also emerged as a threat to its lucrative software business, while a surge in memory chip prices driven by data center demand has forced Microsoft to raise Xbox console prices at a time when demand for the console was already soft. The gaming division's new head, Asha Sharma, said last mo...