Microsoft · TechCrunch AI
Specifically Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to independent studios, according to Sharma
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According to Sharma’s memo, Xbox is also flattening management hard, cutting the current 14 management layers to no more than five, but ideally three.
Key facts
- Of today’s 4,800 layoffs at Microsoft, 1,600 will hit Xbox, with about 3,200 cuts in total expected through fiscal year 2027, according to Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox — It was originally published July 6, 2026, at 8:08 a.m
- The eliminations are part of a series of layoffs in the tech industry that’s seen close to 154,000 people lose their jobs in the first half of 2026, with Big Tech firms like Meta, Oracle, Amazon
- Over the past year, we have redeployed more than 4,000 employees into new roles, including another 500 this month,” Coleman said
Summary
Microsoft cut around 4,800 roles, or 2.1% of its global workforce, on Monday, the latest in a series of layoffs that’s stoking fears that AI will replace people at companies. The layoffs will hit Xbox and commercial sales the hardest, with Xbox losing 1,600 staffers today, according to memos shared with Microsoft’s staff. Here’s a snippet from a memo from Amy Coleman, EVP and chief people officer:. Their business is changing because the world around it is changing. Companies don’t get to choose whether their industry changes; they only get to choose whether they change with it.