According to The Verge estimates they would be over 1000 the layoffs made by Microsoft following the closure of Google Stadia. The company would currently be in a strong reorganization phase, and several employees, including many seniors, are at the expense of it.
The staff cuts have affected several teams, including Xbox and Edge. The MSMT division, which works on the development of new generation technologies, is also interested.
Microsoft has started layoffs today. I’m hearing some in Experiences + Devices, Xbox, legal, strategic tech positions, and elsewhere are impacted. The layoffs impact less than 1,000 employees, but some veterans and truly talented teams are impacted 😔 https://t.co/TpxABLt8v7
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) October 18, 2022
Wave of layoffs for Microsoft: what are the company’s plans?
Tom Warren of TheVerge points out that there are also some senior employees among the layoffs, such as KC Lemson o Greg Chapmanrespectively at the head of projects concerning the integration of Artificial Intelligence, gaming and Azure.
With Stadia shutting down, Microsoft is very likely to shift its efforts on the cloud gaming on other platforms, such as Amazon Luna and GeForce Now (in addition of course to their Xbox Cloud Gaming).
At the same time, the company released a statement to calm rumors of an internal crisis. “Like all companies, we regularly evaluate our business priorities and make structural adjustments accordingly,” Microsoft said. “We will continue to invest in our businesses and hire workforce in key growth areas for the next year.”