- 817 Microsoft software engineers lost their works only in the state of Washington
- It was believed that redundancies pointed to inefficient management layers
- Around a third of the Microsoft Code is written by AI, Google and Meta are also in a similar place.
Microsoft recently confirmed around 6,000 to 7,000 employment cuts worldwide, including an estimated 2,000 redundancies in its homeland in Washington.
Now it has come to light that more than 40% of Washington’s layoffs were related to software engineering (817 roles) (through Bloomberg), with the company previously declaring that the dismissals were part of a broader cost reduction effort and a change in investments in AI.
Together with software engineers, the heaviest roles affected in Washington were product management (373 roles) and technical programs management (218 roles), with commercial programs management (55 roles), customer experience program management (44 roles) and product design (31 roles) also at the table.
More than 800 Microsoft software engineers fired in the Washington state
Despite the clear and continuous need for software engineers in a world increasingly defined by software, it has become clear that Microsoft of appropriate to replace human workers with artificial intelligence. The CEO Satya Nadella recently confirmed that AI now writes about a third of the code of some projects, with the recent layoffs generating concerns about the effects of AI on human workers and software developers.
In more general terms, this is a trend that we are seeing from other technological companies, including Salesforce and Workday. The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai and the Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have also noticed how much of their code is now written by AI.
However, Microsoft has been criticized by mixed messages. The company declared that recent layoffs were mainly designed to reduce inefficiencies in the Middle Management by eliminating unnecessary layers, and although 17% of Washington’s layoffs were related to managers, the loss of hundreds of software engineers raises alarms.
Microsoft’s main software engineering manager Mike Droettboom, suggested in a LinkedIn publication that Python and open source remain important roles despite the fact that companies are promulgating important changes: “Looking in the room, I saw so many faces, some that I have met for almost 25 years, gathering again with the same shared purpose, even as the names of the company change.”
“My heart is with the majority of the team that was fired,” Droettboom added.
Techradar Pro He has asked Microsoft for greater transparency in the roles affected by their dismissal.
