Microsoft Layoffs Hit 830 Workers in Washington

Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs has hit close to home, with 830 workers in Washington—the company’s home state—losing their jobs as part of a broader global reduction of 9,000 positions, about 4% of Microsoft’s 228,000-strong workforce. If you’re in Redmond or Bellevue, you probably know someone affected. It’s unsettling, especially from a company that’s been a tech anchor in the Pacific Northwest for decades.

The cuts span a wide range of roles: game designers, audio designers, mechanical engineers, lawyers, researchers, sales staff, and even cloud solution architects, despite Azure’s ongoing growth. The Xbox gaming division, which has been under pressure since Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023, saw significant reductions. The company’s King division in Barcelona, best known for Candy Crush, also laid off 200 people, about 10% of its staff.

This isn’t the first round of cuts this year. In May, nearly 2,000 jobs were slashed in Washington, mostly in engineering and product management, and another 305 in June. That’s over 3,100 jobs lost in the state in just two months. Across the tech industry, more than 72,000 employees have been laid off in 2025 so far.

Why is this happening? Microsoft says it’s about “organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.” Translation: they’re streamlining, cutting management layers, and investing heavily in artificial intelligence—$80 billion in AI infrastructure this fiscal year. But it’s hard not to wonder: Is this the price of progress, or are we seeing the limits of tech’s promise of stability?

CEO Satya Nadella has described these layoffs as a “realignment,” not a reflection of employee performance, emphasizing the company’s pivot to AI. Still, for the 830 families in Washington, it’s a tough reminder that even the biggest names in tech aren’t immune to disruption. And if you’re in a job that could be automated, you can’t help but ask: Am I next?

Microsoft isn’t alone—Meta, Google, and Amazon have all announced significant cuts this year. But when it happens in your backyard, it hits differently. For the Pacific Northwest, this is more than just another headline. It’s a shakeup that feels both personal and symbolic of a new era in tech.