Microsoft joins AI-driven tech layoff wave with 4,800 job cuts - Reuters

Ah, Microsoft — the company that chucked a third of its Xbox workforce under the bus just weeks ago is now back for a second course. Another 4,800 jobs (2.1% of the team, if you're keeping score) are being shown the door, with Chief People Officer Amy Coleman gravely informing us that AI is 'changing how work gets done by automating routine tasks.' Right. So the routine tasks are gone, the people who did them are gone, and Microsoft's pivot to AI is complete — except the AI hasn't actually done anything yet except justify the layoffs.

The restructuring hits commercial and Xbox, because why stop at one round of culling? The commercial side is being reshuffled to funnel every spare penny into AI infrastructure, while Xbox — already hollowed out — gets another trim. Microsoft wants to be the company that sells the picks and shovels to the AI gold rush, but it's starting to look like they're also happy to sell the miners themselves. Coincidence?

What's most depressing is the sheer predictability. Every company in tech is now using AI as a perfect excuse to streamline, restructure, and cut headcount. The narrative writes itself: 'AI is the future, so we must invest — sorry about your job, but it was routine anyway.' The machines don't even have to be good at the work yet; they just have to be good at providing cover for the spreadsheet. Microsoft has joined the wave, all right — and it's bringing a very big axe.