Global tech giant Microsoft has announced plans to lay off 6,000 employees, including in Kenya.
The number of workers set to be sent home represents about three per cent of its workforce worldwide.
These layoffs will affect employees across all teams and regions, including Africa. This news hits closer home as Microsoft has an office in Kenya.
Microsoft says the move aims to reduce "unnecessary layers of management" to make the company more efficient.
This move marks Microsoft's second-largest round of layoffs since 2023, when it discontinued the employment of 10,000 workers
According to CNBC, the company laid off staff in January due to performance-related issues.
Microsoft has not specified which regions will be affected the most. It remains unclear how many jobs in Kenya will be lost.
Kenya has been positioning itself as a tech hub, attracting big companies such as Microsoft to set up offices and innovation hubs in the country.
Over the past years, Google has laid off hundreds of employees as it looks to cut costs and prioritise AI.
The company had 228,000 workers as of June 2024. It regularly uses layoffs to prioritise staffing in its main focus areas.
Microsoft's workforce growth has remained mostly flat since 2022, the same year ChatGpt was launched.
In 2019, Microsoft established the Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Nairobi to serve as a hub for engineering, design, research, and innovation.
ADC employed hundreds of employees in areas such a software development, machine learning, and data science.
