Microsoft lays off under 1000 employees at the start of the new financial year

It had been hoped that the burgeoning technology sector would be a safe haven from the expected wave of unemployment which will be sweeping the world soon, but it appears, at least for Microsoft, this will not be the case.

The company yesterday announced that it has cut under 1000 jobs from across the company at the start of its financial year, the 1st of July.

We have heard earlier that it had cut editor jobs at its MSN portal, but ITNews reports that its very profitable Azure Cloud division was also impacted.

In its last financials in April this year, Microsoft’s revenue rose 15% despite the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with profit rising to US$10.75 billion for the quarter.

Two weeks ago the company warned about the impact of mass unemployment related to the pandemic and said it would fight this wave by retraining workers to make them more fit for the new economy and save millions of jobs.

Microsoft says it is common for the company to re-evaluate its business as it enters a new fiscal year.