Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says, company has not stopped hiring: We just want to ensure employees can…
Microsoft will resume hiring after forcing its 228,000-strong workforce through a year-long AI training period, CEO Satya Nadella announced, marking the first clear timeline for ending a hiring freeze that has seen over 15,000 employees cut in 2025 alone.
The tech giant laid off 9,000 workers in July—its largest single round of cuts this year—followed by thousands more eliminated in January, May, and June as Nadella pushes employees to “unlearn and relearn” their jobs using AI tools before he’ll approve new hires. The workforce purge represents a stunning reversal from fiscal 2022, when Microsoft expanded headcount by 22% in a pre-ChatGPT hiring spree.
