Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Addresses Employee's Concerns About ‘Lack of Empathy’ After Layoffs and Return-to-Office Mandate, Says ‘We Will Do Better’

Redmond, September 14: Microsoft announced massive layoffs this year, leaving thousands jobless and reducing the workforce by 3%. After these large-scale job cuts and pushing the return-to-office mandate, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the employees over the "lack of empathy" after layoffs and said "we could do better" while trying to rebuild trust.

Microsoft eliminated thousands of jobs under the leadership of Satya Nadella from various divisions. The job cuts round affected product and engineering roles amid restructuring based on the changing needs of the company. As per a report by CNBC, an audio of Satya Nadella was obtained containing a conversation between one of the employees and the Microsoft CEO. Hike Shutdown: Kavin Bharti Mittal Shuts Down Startup After India’s Ban on Real Money Gaming, Lets Go About 100 Employees in India.

In a meeting, an employee asked the executive to speak on the perceived lack of empathy in company culture as of late and the steps the company was taking to rebuild trust with the workforce. Satya Nadella responded, saying, "I take it as feedback for me and everyone in the leadership team, because at the end of the day, I think we can do better, and we will do better." He said he appreciated the question and sentiment behind it.

Microsoft Mass Layoffs in 2025 and Return-to-Office Mandate

Microsoft layoffs have been implemented for many months. The company has reduced its workforce slowly over the months. However, the report mentioned that in July 2025, the numbers increased to 9,000. Recently, Microsoft said that the employees working near Redmond headquarters must come to the office for three days a week starting in February.

Microsoft's HR chief, Amy Coleman, said in a meeting that the reception of the return-to-office announcement was mixed, and some of the workers started feeling like they were losing autonomy. Coleman added that employees from Seattle and around the area already came to the office 2.4 times each week.

Microsoft let employees work fully remote during the pandemic and allowed all to use tools like Teams for video and chat. However, compared to other companies such as Amazon, which called employees back to the office early, Microsoft has been slower. Unlike Amazon, which asked workers to come to the office five days a week, Microsoft asked for three days of work a week. xAI Layoffs: Elon Musk’s AI Company Lays Off 500 Employees From Grok Team as Part of Restructuring, Plans To Hire More Specialist AI Tutors.

Satya Nadella and Microsoft’s leadership may be facing criticism from some employees, but Wall Street is cheering the company’s strong growth. Shares are up nearly 20% this year, lifting its market value to USD 3.7 trillion, second only to Nvidia. In July, Microsoft posted a 24% jump in net income to USD 27 billion, though gross margins slipped to just under 69% from 71% in late 2023. The company continues to invest heavily in building and leasing data centres to meet soaring AI demand.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 14, 2025 06:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).