① According to reports, Microsoft plans to eliminate thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, to reduce labor costs and increase investment in the field of artificial intelligence; ② Microsoft is expected to announce layoffs early next month, which caused its stock price to rise about 0.5% on Wednesday to $480.24, surpassing the previous record high.
On June 19, the Financial Association reported (Editor: Liu Rui) that on Wednesday, Eastern Time, $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ the stock price reached a historic high. Reports indicate that Microsoft plans to cut thousands of jobs, especially in sales positions. This suggests that as Microsoft increases its investment in the Technology field, the company is also facing pressure to reduce labor costs, thereby offsetting the overall company costs.
According to sources, Microsoft is expected to announce news of layoffs early next month.
On$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$Against the background of a strong open but weak close on Wednesday, Microsoft's stock price rose about 0.5% to $480.24, exceeding the record high closing price set on Monday, with part of the rise linked to layoff news.
So far this year, Microsoft's stock price has risen by about 14%, making it one of the best-performing stocks among the 'Seven Giants' in the US stock market in 2025.
In fact, reports emerged about a month ago that Microsoft would lay off 3% globally, which amounts to over 6,000 people—if the news is accurate, this would be the largest layoff since Microsoft cut 10,000 employees in 2023.
According to regulatory filings, the company indicated that as of the end of the 2024 fiscal year, it had approximately 228,000 employees worldwide, of which about 120,000 are based in the United States.
Many large Technology peers of Microsoft - including $Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ 和$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ - had previously adopted similar personnel measures. Last week, Alphabet-C just offered a "voluntary departure plan" to employees in several departments, including its Knowledge and Information Department, Central Engineering Department, and the marketing, research, and communication teams.
In recent quarters, many large Technology companies in the United States have been increasing their investment in artificial intelligence. However, such large-scale investments mean that profit margins are being squeezed, forcing these companies to push for layoffs.
For example, Microsoft announced in April in its Earnings Reports that the company is committed to investing 80 billion USD in infrastructure in fiscal year 2025; meanwhile, D.A. Davidson Analyst Jill Luria stated last week that, at the current investment level, Microsoft could be forced to cut about 0.01 million positions each year.
Editor/rice
