"Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
Last night: Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
English-speaking news sites hardly mention this. It's clearly a failure of the media. The one that did put it behind its paywall. It said: "Microsoft plans to reduce its French workforce by 10 percent, reports Les Echos citing internal sources. This restructuring is part of a new wave of global cuts announced by the IT giant in July, totalling 9,000 layoffs. In France, around 200 jobs are at risk out of the 2,000 employees based primarily at Microsoft’s office in Issy-les-Moulineaux, southwest of Paris."
Source named there is Les Echos, whose article was published on Monday. A translation to English:
Microsoft's French subsidiary hit by job cuts
As part of a global restructuring plan, the American company is reducing its workforce in France through a mutual termination agreement covering 10 percent of employees. The goal is to improve operational efficiency.
The Microsoft headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux employed most of the company's 2,000 staff in France. (Photo Lemouton/Pool/SIPA)
By Thomas Pontiroli
Published on Sept 1, 2025 at 4:59 pm, updated at 5:31 pm
France has not been spared from Microsoft's staff reductions. The French subsidiary of the American giant launched, before the summer, a collective mutual termination agreement (RCC) affecting 10 percent of its workforce, around 200 jobs. The first meetings with employee representatives took place in early June. Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer.
"We are adjusting our workforce in order to meet strategic and business forecast requirements, improve operational efficiency while positioning the company for long-term growth. In France, within this perspective, Microsoft is organizing internal mobility," a Microsoft spokesperson told Les Echos.
Notice this part: "Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
"Voluntary" layoffs are another 'hack', just like RTO, relocation, PIP etc. █