Microsoft to lay off 9,000 employees globally as part of AI-driven restructuring

Microsoft has announced a major round of job cuts in 2025, with up to 9,000 positions being eliminated, representing approximately 4% of its global workforce of around 228,000 employees.

According to a report from Krungthep Turakij, this marks the fourth round of workforce reductions this year, following the 6,000 jobs cut in May.While the company has not officially specified which departments will be affected, it is reported that the video game division, including Xbox, will also experience job losses.

Data from the state of Washington indicates that more than 800 jobs have been axed in Redmond, where Microsoft’s headquarters is located, as well as in Bellevue, another operational hub in the state.This restructuring comes as Microsoft accelerates its investment in artificial intelligence (AI), with plans to allocate up to US$80 billion to build large-scale data centres for AI system training.

Microsoft stated that these changes are aimed at positioning the company to better navigate the rapidly evolving market and strengthen its long-term business prospects.

(2025/07/03-00:00)