A Lot of Fake News About Microsoft Headcount (Also: Microsoft's Debt Rose by About 24 Billion Dollars in Past 12 Months)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Nov 04, 2025

Having already responded to this several times in IRC,

And having seen dozens of articles pushing this talking point,

Most of which seem to be slopfarms repeating "planted" pieces using LLM slop,

And wishing not to amplify or link to such fake/misleading reports,

Let it be stated that:

1. Microsoft headcount is going down
2. There is no such thing as "AI" jobs or skills (it's mostly buzzwords for the feeble-minded)
3. Microsoft employs many people as temps, contractors, and perma-temps (so the headcount figures are easy to game/twist)
4. To date, so far in 2025, Microsoft has laid off about 30,000 workers (since January)
5. Many more workers were made to leave on their own (silent layoffs or passive RAs)
6. Microsoft's debt has surged by about 24 billion dollars in the past year [1, 2, 3]

If you see some headline about Microsoft's CEO making claims about hirings, look away. You're reading face-saving lies from a man who got a considerable raise to lie to you. █