Microsoft layoffs hit HoloLens, Azure cloud teams

4 months ago

Microsoft is reportedly cutting around 1,000 employees, with departments working on HoloLens 2 and Azure ‘moonshots’ among those affected.

By Richard Lawler, a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

Jun 4, 2024, 1:14 AM UTC

Image: The Verge

On Monday, Microsoft announced layoffs reportedly affecting around 1,000 employees. As reported previously by CNBC, the mixed reality department working on HoloLens 2 is one of the areas affected. Separately, Business Insider reported that Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering has also seen cuts of “hundreds” of employees.

This round of layoffs comes more than a year after Microsoft laid off more than 10,000 people, and CEO Satya Nadella said the company was changing its hardware portfolio. Since then, Microsoft has closed its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, invested heavily in AI, and recently begun a push for “AI PCs” with a new round of Surface devices powered by Qualcomm chips.

In a statement to CNBC, Microsoft said, “We remain fully committed to the Department of Defense’s IVAS program and will continue to deliver cutting edge technology to support our soldiers,” and that it will continue to sell HoloLens 2.

Microsoft formed the Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering department in 2021 to encompass “moonshots,” like the Azure Space unit seeking to work with companies like SpaceX and roll out a portable data center in a box. Other teams in the group work on projects like support for telecoms and work on quantum computing.

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