At the beginning of 2023, Microsoft announced its plans to cut 10,000 jobs before the end of FY23 Q3, which would be approximately 5% of the company's workforce. Now, the tech giant has announced performance-based job cuts across its departments, including the company's security division.
While speaking to CNBC, a Microsoft spokesman indicated:
“At Microsoft we focus on high-performance talent. We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action.”
According to Business Insider, the recent performance-based job cuts will affect less than 1% of Microsoft's workforce. For context, Microsoft had approximately 228,000 employees by the end of June 2024. The outlet further revealed that the company's managers have been scrutinizing employee performance across the organization through level 80 over the past few months.
In 2024, Microsoft's gaming division was hit with a massive round of layoffs, with over 1,900 employees losing their jobs across Activision Blizzard, Xbox Game Studios, and ZeniMax Media. The firm announced its stance on security following a cascade of security failures, making every employee "have security as a Core Priority."
"Security underpins every layer of the tech stack, and it's our No. 1 priority," indicated Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the company's earnings report for FY24 Q3. In May, the firm announced its plans to hold top Microsoft executives accountable for cybersecurity by tying a section of their compensation packages to meeting the set security thresholds. It also promises to expedite its response time when security issues are raised, prompting remediation.
