Microsoft has laid off over 6,000 employees globally, about 3% of its total workforce, even after reporting impressive profits for the last quarter. The company earned $70.1 billion in revenue and a net profit of $25.8 billion, showing strong financial performance.

According to reports from Bloomberg, the people most affected by these job cuts were software engineers, especially those based in Washington state. In that region alone, over 40% of those laid off were from engineering roles.

Many of the engineers who were let go had recently been told to use AI tools to increase their coding speed and output. A report from The Information says that Jeff Hulse, a Microsoft vice president who managed about 400 engineers, told his team to use OpenAI-powered tools to write up to 50% of their code. But just a few weeks later, many of those same engineers were laid off.

The situation raises concerns that the AI tools, which were supposed to help them, may have also made their roles seem less essential.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been open about how AI is changing the way software is built. He once said that AI is now writing “nearly a third” of Microsoft’s code. While this helps improve productivity, it has made some employees worry that AI might replace their jobs, not just assist them.


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