Layoffs continue in IT sector, more than 1,000 workers out of Microsoft
In the last few months, a large number of workers have been laid off in the information technology sector. Microsoft, one of the big IT companies, has laid off more than 1,000 workers from its Mixed Reality unit. This unit is connected to the HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset.
A report by The Information states that layoffs have also been made in the team related to Microsoft’s cloud software and service rental business. A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed the layoffs in the Mixed Reality unit. He said that this layoff will not affect HoloLens 2 and other programs related to augmented reality. For the last few months, Microsoft has reduced its investment in units related to mixed reality. However, the company has said that it is committed to HoloLens.
Earlier, Microsoft had decided to lay off about 1,900 workers from its gaming division. These included workers from Activision Blizzard and Xbox. About eight percent of the staff in its gaming division was laid off. Most of these are in Activision Blizzard. Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for approximately $69 billion to strengthen its position in the video gaming market. Japan’s consumer electronics company Sony holds the first position in this market.
Earlier, many big technology companies, including Alphabet, which runs internet search engine Google, had laid off thousands of workers. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s market capitalization overtook that of iPhone maker Apple for the first time in two years. The market capitalization of the company had exceeded three trillion dollars. This made it the most valuable company in the world. However, after this Apple regained its top position. Microsoft’s share price surged nearly 57 percent last year after it took a big step into generative artificial intelligence by investing in ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Many IT companies are investing in Artificial Intelligence. Accenture plans to invest $3 billion in the data and artificial intelligence vertical. The company will double the number of employees in this vertical.
