Microsoft said Monday that it has eliminated about 4,800 roles, or 2.1% of its global workforce, adding to the string of AI-related layoffs hitting the tech world. The company said the roles being cut are “not being replaced by AI,” but acknowledged that “AI is changing how work gets done” and automating many everyday tasks.
The cuts continue what feels to many in the tech industry like an epidemic: companies reporting record revenues while simultaneously culling their workforces, pointing to AI as both the engine of growth and the reason for the cuts. Tech layoffs hit their highest single month in years in May, and AI was the most-cited reason, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Roughtly 120,000 tech roles have now been cut in 2026, according to Layoffs.fyi, a tracker that has monitored industry layoffs since 2020.
