Microsoft announced 276 Seattle-area layoffs Monday, bringing the total local cuts by the Redmond-based tech giant this year to 3,199, the most in nearly two decades.
The cuts, which affect workers in the company's Redmond and Bellevue offices, aren't part of the 10,000 layoffs Microsoft announced in January and completed by the end of March.
Instead, the cuts appear to be part of routine cost-cutting.
"Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business," a Microsoft spokesperson said Monday in an emailed statement about the cuts, which were reported Monday by the state Employment Security Department.
The spokesperson wouldn't confirm whether the layoffs signaled a new round of cost-cutting.
But in past years, Microsoft has often reduced staff around the close of its fiscal year on June 30. Last July, the company reportedly cut hundreds of workers as part of a periodic "structural adjustment."
Such adjustments differ markedly from the mass layoffs announced Jan. 18, which affected 10,000 jobs, or 5% of Microsoft's workforce, as the company responded to a major downturn in the tech sector.
The cuts, which followed similar reductions at Seattle-based Amazon and other tech firms, were part of efforts to "align our cost structure with our revenue and where we see customer demand," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees at the time.
Overall employment in Washington's tech sector has fallen by nearly 2% since its peak last August, compared to a more than 1% increase in the state's overall employment since then, according to state data.
In April, Microsoft reported earnings of $18.3 billion for the quarter ending March 31, an increase of 9.4% over the same quarter in 2022.
Albert Squiers, who runs technology recruitment for Seattle-based Fuel Talent, said Monday's cuts at Microsoft shouldn't raise concerns about another major round of layoffs.
"A small change like this is a natural restructuring," said Squiers. "That's not to say it isn't extremely painful for those affected."
Microsoft wouldn't confirm whether the cuts announced Monday would take effect immediately, as has been the case in recent layoffs, or on Sept. 9, which was the start date listed in the state notice.
