The statement on corporate awards issued by Microsoft has attracted widespread concern, particularly following the announcement last month of some 6,000 staff reductions (about 3 per cent of the global workforce). Recent Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made it clear that in May 2025 the company selected some 6,000 people to adjust its organizational structure and focus on the AI strategy, rather than on underperformance.
According to CNBC, on 13 May 2025 Microsoft announced a reduction of some 6,000 personnel, covering all systems, teams and geographical areas. The largest demographic change since 2023 represents 3 per cent of the 228,000 staff globally. This ruling took place against a backdrop of strong corporate financial performance, with net revenue of $25.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025, indicating strategic adjustments, not because of financial expectations.
Satya Nadra stressed that the judgement was intended to reconfigure the team and resources, support the development of AI plans, such as Copilot, and accelerate the innovation process of the full-line product. Nadra has made it clear on many occasions in internal meetings that the judgement is not based on individual performance but on strategic restructuring. “This is not about staff performance, but rather about repositioning for the future”, he mentioned.
Mr. Hudson Althoff, Chief Business Officer of Microsoft, stated that Microsoft Copilot was receiving extensive attention at the enterprise level. The British Bank’s giant Barclays Bank has signed 100,000 copilot licences, and companies like Esenzer, Toyota, Siemens and the public have exceeded this standard, highlighting the proliferation of artificial intelligence applications in large enterprises.
Copilot, which is priced at $30 per user per month, is rapidly developing into an important source of income. Microsoft is now focusing on deepening user participation — not only for sales licences, but also to ensure that users use it regularly. Nadra emphasized this shift in thinking: “It is not just who owns Copilot, but how they use it.”
For non-professionals, Microsoft has worked with India ‘ s leading cloud infrastructure provider, Yotta Data Services, to accelerate the spread of AI in the Indian market. Through this collaboration, Microsoft will integrate its AzureAI services with the Shakti Cloud platform in Yotta, enabling developers, start-ups, businesses, government agencies and academic institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology to access advanced artificial intelligence functions.
