Latest Microsoft Layoff Wave Hits Supply Chain, Cloud, IoT Employees

March 10, 2023 at 3:22 p.m. EST

A Microsoft spokesman told CRN that the job cuts — some of the 10,000 announced in January — have spread across different levels, functions, teams and regions.

Microsoft has made its third wave of layoffs that are part of the 10,000 employees the vendor announced for this year, this time laying off employees in roles related to supply chain, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT).

A Microsoft spokesman told CRN that the job cuts were taking place at different levels, functions, teams and regions.

As with previous rounds of layoffs conducted not just by Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft but by various technology vendors and at least one consulting firm, the laid-off employees took to Microsoft-owned social media network LinkedIn to confirm their layoffs.

[RELATED: Satya Nadella Confirms 10,000 Microsoft Layoffs]

Microsoft carries out third wave of layoffs

The tech giant reported to its home state on Monday that 689 employees were laid off permanently, according to Washington state records. The layoffs affect Microsoft’s offices in Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah.

This is the third wave of Microsoft layoffs the state has seen since the provider announced it would cut about 10,000 employees in January. Management has cited moderate demand for digital tools and increased IT budget scrutiny as the reason for the layoffs.

In February, Microsoft notified Washington State that it had laid off 617 employees. That same month, Microsoft told the state of California that 108 employees were laid off, according to state records.

In January, Microsoft notified the state of Washington that it had laid off 878 employees, bringing the total number of employees laid off in the state to 2,184.

Roles affected include AI, supply chain engineering and IoT

Despite Microsoft’s recent headline-grabbing AI investments and products, the vendor has shelved its AI-powered automation project Project Bonsai and laid off the team, according to a LinkedIn post from the head of product and business strategy and chief operating officer for business AI incubations – whose total time at Microsoft spans more than 20 years in three different periods.

“However, after my third tenure at Microsoft, it pains me to see that when push comes to shove, a pattern emerges of what I believe to be short-sighted decisions, trading longer-term strategic opportunities and options for tactical tweaks,” he said the user wrote.

A senior product manager who has worked at Microsoft for more than 18 years — most recently leading “a team of product managers in supply chain engineering, part of the cloud and AI group at Microsoft” — wrote on LinkedIn that “a significant portion of my Group and I were fired.” He said his organization numbers nearly 400 people.

“At this point I’m not looking for a change right away,” he wrote. “I’m more worried about all the wonderful colleagues who have visas and have to find a job in the 60-day deadline. To my friends who are job hunting, I wish you all the success in the world. In the meantime, I plan to continue my education. I look forward to learning more about AI and writing more code again. It seems I’ve finally run out of excuses now that I have all the time in the world.”

A principal group engineering manager at Microsoft for some 28 years — most recently in supply chain security, business process monitoring, supportability of artificial intelligence operations (AIOps), advanced secure manufacturing factories, and other endeavors — wrote that her team has had “a significant impact.” from the layoffs.

Other supply chain-related employees who have been laid off by Microsoft include:

*A product manager at Microsoft for about three years who created the “Supplier-Factory-Part Master Data Dashboard, which assesses the sourcing manager’s responsibility for proper data management in systems”

*A second-level technical product manager at Microsoft for more than four years, working on data for supply chain quality devices and tools

* Full-stack and back-end software engineer at Microsoft for more than two years, working in the supply chain engineering team

* Senior Product Manager at Microsoft for more than seven years, working on the supply chain for Azure, devices and accessories

Laid-off employees who have been dealing with the IoT and Microsoft cloud offering Azure include:

*A 10+ year Microsoft veteran who has held the title of Senior Director of Hardware and 5G Partners and has been responsible for Azure Light Edge semiconductor, device manufacturer and connectivity engineering partnerships.

* A level 2 software engineer at Microsoft for more than six years, working on “developing end-to-end PaaS solutions” using Azure Synapse, Azure Storage, Power BI and other offerings

*An advocate of the Azure IoT developer community at Microsoft for about six years

*A principal program manager who worked at Microsoft for more than 16 years and “drives the technical ecosystem of IoT and community engagement”

Other engineers and collaborators working with AI from Microsoft are:

*A Level 2 Electrical Engineer in the company who has worked on end-to-end testing of products during mass production for more than two years

*A level 2 software engineer at Microsoft for almost seven years

*An AI operations manager (AIOps) who has worked with Microsoft for about two years, working to facilitate “the delivery of safe, high-quality data to improve machine learning and artificial intelligence models.”

*A 23-year Microsoft Veteran who worked as Lead Content Developer on “Online Learning for Power BI and AI Builder on the Learn Platform”.

Personnel involved in managing business programs include:

*A Business Program Manager who has worked at Microsoft for more than two years and has “served as a team admin for Azure DevOps Boards”

*A Senior Business Program Manager at Microsoft for approximately a year who was “responsible for leading the successful transformation planning, orchestration, strategic communications and change management of Microsoft US/NA Sales.”

* A Business Program Manager at Microsoft for approximately a year who was “responsible for triaging incoming issues and field escalations across all field roles, tools and regions”

* Business Program Manager at Microsoft for more than two years, managing vendor budgets and vendor relationships

Other roles removed by Microsoft include:

*A social and earned media manager who has been with Microsoft for more than five years

*A 10-year Microsoft veteran who served as a director and security and compliance specialist for retail and consumer products

*A program manager at Microsoft for more than two years who was “responsible for driving and delivering cross-company launches to engage customers and businesses with our commercial business systems”

* Less than a year Senior Customer Success Manager at Microsoft who has worked with state and local government agencies

* An industry executive at Microsoft for more than three years, helping “scale technology solutions in the K-12 and higher education market”

*A 10-year Microsoft Veteran who has worked as a Support Escalation Manager

*A 17+ year veteran at Microsoft who served as Director of Insurance Industry Solutions