Microsoft has announced a major layoff of 1,900 employees from Activision Blizzard and Xbox, while Flipkart is also planning to cut 1,000 jobs as part of its annual restructuring exercise.
Layoffs: Microsoft has announced that it will be laying off around 1,900 employees at gaming company Activision Blizzard, as well as at Xbox. This decision comes after Microsoft recently acquired Activision Blizzard, and the job cuts will affect approximately 8% of the overall Microsoft gaming division, which currently has around 22,000 employees. The news was shared in an internal memo by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on Thursday.
In the memo, Spencer acknowledged the contributions of the affected employees, stating that they had played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and the Xbox teams. He expressed his pride in their accomplishments and thanked them for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives.
Along with the layoffs, Activision Blizzard President Mike Ybarra has also decided to leave the company. Ybarra expressed his gratitude towards the impacted employees and acknowledged that it was a difficult day for everyone. He shared his support and energy with those affected and stated that he would now become Blizzard’s biggest fan from the outside.
This news comes after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a move that further solidifies Microsoft’s position in the gaming industry. With this acquisition, Microsoft aims to strengthen its gaming division and expand its reach in the gaming market.
Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October last year, after a long battle with regulators in the UK and the US. The company reorganised its Xbox gaming and marketing leadership in the same month, The Verge had reported.
Flipkart layoff
E-commerce major Flipkart will be laying off 1,000 employees in an annual restructuring exercise. This represents around 5 per cent of its total workforce, reports Moneycontrol, citing sources. According to the report, the company carries out these performance-based job cost reductions every year, and the latest workforce reduction is in line with that.
The Walmart-owned company currently has around 22,000 employees. Earlier reports mentioned that the company is also looking at internal restructuring to optimise its resources in order to remain profitable.
Meanwhile, Flipkart had a total revenue of Rs 56,013 crore in the 2023 financial year, according to data from business intelligence platform Tofler.