The move could affect the tech giant’s base in Dublin, which employs 3,500 people
Microsoft’s headquarters in Leopardstown
Microsoft is reportedly preparing a new layoff round at its Azure cloud operations, a move that could affect the Dublin base.
The job cuts at the cloud division, which recently reported a 30pc surge in revenue, could number up to 1,500 according to Business Insider, which first reported the news.
The layoffs are set to impact teams including Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering, according to the report.
Ireland’s Microsoft base, which employs 3,500 people, includes operations working with Azure.
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“Organisational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritise and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters.
When contacted, Microsoft Ireland declined to comment.
Microsoft is currently the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalisation of $3.07 trillion (€2.83 trillion).
It is considered to have the most advanced AI strategy of the tech giants, with significant investments in the technology, including in OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith said separately on Tuesday that the company is ready to offer more concessions to settle a European Union antitrust probe into illegal tying of its Teams app. “It’s apparent that our work probably isn’t yet done,” Smith told a group of reporters in Brussels on Tuesday. “I expect that we’ll need to take some additional steps.” Smith’s comment comes as the European Commission readies a formal antitrust complaint against Microsoft’s conduct, a move which can eventually lead to hefty fines. Microsoft last year proposed to split Teams from its broader business software packages and sell it to customers separately with an annual discount, but the move wasn’t enough to appease regulators. In April, it pledged to run out the changes globally. The EU has since then been working on a formal complaint over Microsoft’s practice of tying its video software Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages. The case was sparked by a complaint from Salesforce Inc.’s messaging platform Slack four years ago.
