laid off more than 1,000 employees over the past week, primarily in customer service and sales roles, people familiar with the changes told Insider.earlier this year, according to these people. They asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.
As part of these moves, Microsoft shut its"Digital Sales and Success" group, a sales and customer service team that at one point had thousands of employees. The company also eliminated the customer solutions manager role, moving some, but not many, employees to another role called customer success account management. Cuts also came to engineering project managers and marketing departments.
"The focus is more to accelerate consumption than it is to help customers," one person familiar with the changes told Insider."What was promoted as one of the largest customer service groups in the industry is now struggling to keep up with demand."Microsoft leaders have been relatively quiet about the changes this time around. Many managers were left in the dark about the plans, including many who learned of the cuts on the day they were made, two of the people said.
Microsoft reported in a mandatory filing to Washington state that it laid off 210 employees in the state and 66 remote employees, GeekWireThe people familiar told Insider that the cuts included hundreds more employees. "Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business," a Microsoft spokesperson said."We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners."