Microsoft have "aligned on the best opportunities for growth" by laying off nearly two thousand people

Given that Microsoft have spent considerable time and effort becoming the biggest cock-of-the-walk possible, it does, I suppose, make sense that their layoffs are correspondingly massive. In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Phil Spencer is very sad to reveal to the staff that, in order to grow, the combined powers of Microsoft's 22k-strong Gaming Division have to be denuded to the tune of 1,900 human beings. That amounts to about 8% of the division.

Oh, Icarus. "The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible. The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here," says Phil. "We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws." Presumably, because this is a move to "strengthen growth", all these people can apply for their old jobs in a few years, once sufficient growth has been achieved.

The move, which Phil describes as "a painful decision", comes a few years after Microsoft bought ZeniMax (a nesting doll that included Bethesda, what made Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) but only about three months after Microsoft managed to acquire Activision Blizzard for a nearly-memetastic amount of $68.7 billion. It sort of makes sense. Shrinking headcount is often one of the first things a business does when it has eaten a smaller, weaker one. Plus, Microsoft have form on this. At almost the same time last year they announced a jaw-dropping 10,000 layoffs over the whole company.

Also leaving but not, apparently, one of the unlucky 2k who have been sacked, is Mike Ybarra, now erstwhile president of Blizzard - although he only took on the job at the start of 2022. No word yet on where he'll land, but The Verge say that Microsft will pick a new Blizzard president next week. In the meantime, Blizzard's previously-announced survival game has, well, not survived the changes.

These are just the latest in an extensive and ongoing number of layoffs across the industry. I wish I could say I didn't think there will be more in 2024. If you're a developer, I can only hope that your company doesn't feel a need to grow any time soon.