Microsoft Gaming has announced a new wave of layoffs, as reported last week by several unofficial sources, a process that has already begun with notification to all affected employees.
According to Microsoft, nearly 9,000 employees (4% of its workforce) will be laid off, including Xbox employees, who according to Phil Spencer will lose their jobs as the company wants to “shut down or reduce work in certain areas of the business” by removing layers of management to streamline processes.
Bloomberg reports that Candy Crush maker King will lay off around 200 people, and ZeniMax has already started informing employees that it will lay off employees. However, only its European divisions are informing employees and it will be hours before the US divisions know if they have been affected.
Phil Spencer wrote a message in which he says they intend to position gaming for long-term success, focusing on strategic areas of growth, admitting that they will lay off employees when they have the highest number of players, games and hours played ever, but need to make decisions to protect the business and the opportunity for growth.
