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‘Our business today is not healthy’: 1,600 Xbox employees among the 4,800 laid off by Microsoft as it looks to ‘reset’ gaming division

A third of Microsoft's global layoffs were Xbox employee as the company reduced its workforce by 2.1% globally.

‘Our business today is not healthy’: 1,600 Xbox employees among the 4,800 laid off by Microsoft as it looks to ‘reset’ gaming division

Published July 6, 2026 · Category: Markets

Overview

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, about 2.1% of its global workforce, including a large number of workers at its Xbox video game business.

The layoffs included 1,600 Xbox workers, with more to come this year in a broader reorganization designed to “reset” Xbox as it faces heightened competition, the company said Monday.

“Our business today is not healthy,” said a memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who took over the gaming division earlier this year. “We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.”

Details

Sharma said the industry, in which Xbox competes with Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch, is facing a severe “hardware crisis” as costs soar for console components.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Source

Originally published at fortune.com.

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