Microsoft to Lay Off Hundreds at Azure Cloud Unit

Microsoft is slashing hundreds of Azure cloud positions, Business Insider reported on Monday, adding to a wave of layoffs in technology and media this year

According to the report, the layoffs will affect departments such as Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering. The redundancies at Azure for Operators may result in eliminating up to 1,500 positions, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Organizational and workforce modifications are routine and essential components of business management.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters, “We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”

The reductions in personnel follow the January reductions of 1,900 positions at Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

In 2024, several technology companies, including Salesforce and Amazon.com, laid off several hundred employees.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud is experiencing rapid expansion due to its substantial investments in artificial intelligence and its strategic partnership with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, which grants Azure access to its coveted technologies.

The Business Insider reported that Azure for Operations and Mission Engineering are subsidiaries of Strategic Missions and Technologies, an organization established in 2021 focusing on quantum computing and space.

In a separate development, a Microsoft spokesperson informed Reuters on Monday that the company will continue selling its augmented reality headgear, the HoloLens 2, despite initiating organizational restructuring for mixed reality.

According to Business Insider, in 2022, the organization abandoned its intentions for the HoloLens 3.