Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, including 605 in Washington

By the numbers: A notice filed with the state Monday says Microsoft will permanently eliminate 605 Washington jobs — including 493 positions in Redmond — effective Sept. 4.

Driving the news: The company's gaming division is getting hit hard, undergoing what its top leader called its biggest restructuring ever.

• In an unusually blunt memo — shared publicly on X — Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote, "Our business today is not healthy."
• The division will eliminate about 1,600 jobs immediately, with another 1,600 cuts planned over the fiscal year.
• Those cuts will amount to about 20% of Xbox's workforce, per GeekWire.

What they're saying: Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer, wrote in another memo Monday that the "roles eliminated today are not being replaced by AI.

• "At the same time, what is true is that AI is changing how work gets done," she wrote.

• "Some of the tasks we do every day can now be automated."

Flashback: The latest Microsoft cuts follow the company laying off 15,000 people globally last year, including 3,200 in Redmond, according to the Seattle Times.

What we're watching: Microsoft's restructuring may not be over.

• Coleman's memo notes that "there will be more changes ahead" and that "other parts of our business will need to make similar changes."