Microsoft is planning another major wave of layoffs, with job reductions heavily focused on its global sales division.
According to Breitbart, the technology giant is expected to announce the cuts in early July 2025 as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and redirect resources toward artificial intelligence development.
The proposed layoffs come on the heels of previous job reductions in recent months, signaling an ongoing company-wide restructuring. Microsoft last reduced its workforce in May 2025, eliminating around 6,000 positions, mostly in product development and engineering. That round spared most sales and marketing teams, but the company indicated at the time that additional changes could follow.
In April 2025, employees were told Microsoft would begin relying more on external firms to handle sales for software targeted at small and medium-sized businesses. That announcement was widely interpreted as a precursor to incoming cuts within the internal sales workforce. The current plan is expected to significantly affect that department, indicating the company’s strategic pivot away from in-house representatives for these types of accounts.
Sources familiar with the matter said the upcoming layoffs “will predominantly impact sales positions, although other teams may also be affected.” While an exact number of roles to be cut has not yet been confirmed, the total is expected to reach into the thousands. The official announcement is anticipated shortly after the close of Microsoft’s fiscal year, which ends in late June.
The timing for revealing these changes is reportedly still subject to adjustment, but previous behavior suggests Microsoft is following a familiar pattern. The company has a history of announcing internal restructuring around the end of its fiscal calendar. It did the same last year, consolidating staff and adjusting team structures across various divisions.
These upcoming reductions would follow layoffs that occurred earlier this year in January, when Microsoft trimmed roles in its cybersecurity division. The affected team was led by Charlie Bell, a former Amazon Web Services executive who joined Microsoft in 2021. Employees in that division were notified midweek as part of a broader realignment plan concerning the company’s security initiatives.
As of the end of June 2024, Microsoft reported having 228,000 employees globally. Approximately 45,000 of those worked in positions related to sales and marketing. With the upcoming job cuts expected to mainly target sales, it remains to be seen how much of that subset will be downsized.
Microsoft has publicly stated that it regularly reviews its organizational framework to ensure resources support the company’s growth efforts. The company told investors that it remains focused on controlling costs in non-core areas as it allocates substantial investment toward AI infrastructure. These investments include continued spending on servers, data centers, and related technology.
Executives have committed to financial analysts that the company will pursue aggressive cost discipline, outside of its AI investments. This approach reflects the competitive pressure to rapidly build capabilities in machine learning and cloud computing, areas where major rivals, including Amazon and Google, are also increasing expenditures.
Microsoft’s moves in the current fiscal year continue a trend of consolidating its workforce to better align with these priorities. Though sales and marketing teams avoided layoffs in the company’s May announcement, they are now being positioned for substantial reductions. These plans show Microsoft is rebalancing its human capital to support long-term technological ambitions.
The potential job losses also echo the shifts seen in other large tech firms over the last 18 months. Industry-wide, companies are navigating a recalibration of post-pandemic growth strategies, which includes rethinking traditional sales channels and in-house staffing models.
In moving to outside firms for sales among smaller clients, Microsoft hopes to reduce internal costs while still maintaining coverage in that market segment. This change serves both operational goals and fiscal constraints tied to ongoing investment priorities. It also reflects a broader evolution in how enterprise software companies approach customer acquisition and retention.
While the exact date of the coming layoff notification hasn’t been finalized, it is expected to align with the end of Microsoft’s current fiscal year. That would place the announcement in early July 2025, following the company’s pattern of making strategic announcements during this financial window.
For impacted employees, particularly in sales, the restructuring signals a tightening job landscape as the company prioritizes automated and outsourced channels. Other departments may also see some level of reduction, though the majority of cuts are expected to fall on the sales workforce.
As the company continues funneling resources into AI, the pressure to reduce headcount in other functional areas has intensified. Despite global headwinds, Microsoft executives have maintained the company’s goal of leading in next-generation computing platforms. Cost management and organizational efficiency are central to making that vision financially feasible.
Employees and analysts alike will be closely watching the upcoming announcement to gauge how deep the cuts will be and how the changes affect operational morale. Microsoft has weathered several restructuring waves before, but this one reflects a more focused pivot toward reshaping its internal sales dynamics.
In the meantime, Microsoft has reiterated its commitment to reassessing its structure to deploy resources in areas that will drive continued growth. The latest adjustments are another step in what appears to be a comprehensive, company-wide transformation plan focused on future technologies.
