Microsoft will lay off almost 5 thousand employees; Xbox team will also be hit

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Microsoft announced this Monday (6) that it will lay off around 4,800 employees, equivalent to approximately 2.1% of its workforce, according to the news agency Reuters.
The cuts will primarily hit the division responsible for Xbox, wrote Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief human resources officer, in an email to employees.
"We are aligning our investment, people and energy with our business priorities. Today's changes primarily impact our Commercial and Xbox organizations," he wrote.
Microsoft had around 220,000 employees before the cuts, according to the news portal Business Insider. It is not yet known whether the layoffs will affect employees in Brazil. g1 contacted the company and is awaiting a position.
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In the statement, Coleman stated that the fired employees will not be replaced by artificial intelligence, but did not say whether the cuts are related to the company's investments in this technology. In recent months, several companies have announced layoffs to prioritize investments in AI.
"What is true is that AI is changing the way work is done. Some of the tasks we do every day can now be automated, and that means we all need to keep learning, developing new skills and adapting as work evolves," said the executive.
It is worth remembering that, in April this year, Microsoft announced its first voluntary dismissal plan (PDV) in the United States for around 9 thousand employees. The POS was aimed at older employees, whose combined age and length of service reaches 70 years or more.
That month, Microsoft had around 125,000 employees in the US, and around 8,000 would be eligible for the program.
Coleman ends the email by stating that "there will be more changes ahead", without confirming new layoffs. She says, however, that other areas of the company "will need to make similar adjustments".
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Source: G1