Microsoft to lay off hundreds at Azure cloud unit: report

Microsoft is cutting hundreds of jobs at its Azure cloud unit, Business Insider has reported, adding to a flurry of layoffs seen in the technology and media industries this year.

The layoffs will impact teams including Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering, according to the report.

The Azure for Operators layoffs involve as many as 1,500 job cuts, it added, citing people familiar with the situation.

“Organisational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritise and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters.

The cuts come after the company shed 1,900 jobs at Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January this year.

Tech firms including Amazon.com and Salesforce also laid off several hundred employees in 2024.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud is witnessing sharp growth due to the company’s heavy investment in AI and its access to the coveted technologies of ChatGPT maker OpenAI through their strategic partnership.

Azure for Operations and Mission Engineering are a part of an organisation called Strategic Missions and Technologies formed in 2021 tasked with quantum computing and space, the Business Insider reported.

Separately, Microsoft has started restructuring its mixed reality organisation but will continue to sell its augmented reality headset, the HoloLens 2, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters.

Business Insider reported in 2022 that the company scrapped plans for HoloLens 3.