Overview

• In a July 24 memo, Nadella calls the latest job cuts “among the most difficult we have to make” and expresses deep gratitude to departing employees for their contributions
• Microsoft eliminated over 15,000 positions in 2025, including roughly 9,000 in early July, marking its largest workforce reduction since 2014
• Nadella frames the layoffs as the “enigma of success” in a company that is “thriving by every objective measure” despite the reductions
• The memo establishes three non-negotiable priorities—security, quality and AI transformation—and outlines an $80 billion investment in AI infrastructure for this fiscal year
• Teams are being reorganized under a reimagined mission to become an intelligence engine, with short-term displacement weighed against anticipated long-term AI-driven growth and no guarantee of further cuts