San Francisco, July 12: Satya Nadella-led Microsoft reportedly informed staff members acquire AI skills after laying off thousands of employees. Microsoft layoffs affected 6,000 employees from various departments in May, including senior executives and directors. The employees were in shock when Microsoft announced mass layoffs, and they were part of it. Now, the remaining workforce is told to embrace and learn artificial intelligence.

Amid the changing tech sector landscape globally, many companies have started adopting AI and automation as a solution to slow operations. The tech layoffs in 2025 have reached the 74,408 mark, and 154 companies have trimmed their workforces to stay learn, restructure their business or automate their operations. Indeed, Glassdoor Layoffs: Recruit Holdings To Lay Off Around 1,300 Employees To Shift Focus Towards AI Push, Job Cuts Likely To Affect HR Technology Segment.

According to reports, the tech giant has communicated with the remaining staff internally, stating that they must learn AI tools and techniques. Now, employees at all levels must know artificial intelligence technology and integrate it into their daily lives. Reports said that Microsoft's Head of Developer Division, Julia Liuson, informed the managers that AI would become a key factor in evaluating employee performance.

She said that the performance assessment of the employees would depend on their ability to leverage tools such as Microsoft Copilot and would likely impact their role in the company. This year, the tech giant invested USD 80 billion to build its AI infrastructure amid a rapidly changing tech environment and new technology. Telstra Layoffs: Australian Telecom Giant To Lay Off More 550 Employees Amid Ongoing Enterprise Business Restructuring To Streamline Operations, Improve Efficiency.

So far, the Microsoft layoff rounds have affected various departments, including Xbox gaming, sales, and more. Microsoft is not alone; the other tech giants like Meta, Intel, Salesforce, Google, IBM and others have already started laying off employees and adopting  AI for multiple operations such as customer services, sales & marketing and others. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2025 12:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).