Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Lays Off Azure Staff and Much More, Spins These Layoffs as “Optimization Strategy”

They always have excuses and ridiculous tales ready to promptly tell the gullible

Hands



Summary: An in-depth but concise analysis of the recent "layoffs wave" at Microsoft; it's a lot more serious than they want us to think, with profound cuts that go much deeper and further than initially reported or acknowledged

MICROSOFT is not a growth company. It has been laying off workers for over a decade and buying all sorts of companies like Nokia that became "write-offs" (causing the company report massive losses, nor profits, quite a few times).



Microsoft Peter used to spread lies about their financial results every quarter up until his arrest for sexually abusing children. Even when Microsoft announced layoffs he would post Microsoft's 'prepared' statements (lies basically). A company can hide losses some of the time, but not all the time. When it admits losses it wants to make sure there's some good excuse for these.

Seeing the latest silence about Microsoft layoffs (employees were gagged about it and most weren't even told about it, based on what they've told us), we've decided to do some further research into it. This article is merely an outline of our findings.

"Microsoft Peter used to spread lies about their financial results every quarter up until his arrest for sexually abusing children."Firstly, let's consider the Microsoft spin; marketing and PR drones inside the media give us a lot of insight into that. It's all about the face-saving strategy. Microsoft's propagandist Mary Jo Foley does the typical propaganda at ZDNet right about now; her headline is calling the layoffs “usual” and “fewer than usual” (as a Microsoft mouthpiece would claim; this isn't some annual ritual). The company's spokesman called it “optimization strategy” (in the past they used to call layoffs "reorg"). This site says "Business Insider reports that jobs have been cut in the Microsoft Azure division," as we noted here before. Well, Azure is a failure and a fraud (or Ponzi scheme), according to insiders. What Microsoft tells shareholders about Azure is a lie (performance is being faked, hoping that false perception of 'growth' and 'health' will help suck businesses into this Clown Computing trap). It's a lock-in-based long-term strategy. "There is also talk of layoffs for Azure, the cloud division that brings the company billions of dollars in revenues," Brian Adam wrote.

Profits or just revenue, Brian?

Not the same thing.

If it's so profitable, then why the layoffs? Why are datacenters being shut? Remember that Microsoft was always a company of lawyers and predatory legal contracts (Bill's dad is a lawyer; Bill Gates studied law, albeit he never graduated). They use NDAs to silence their CFOs regarding financial misconduct and the sacked staff too is being gagged (to defend the lies; they try to discredit the few who speak out, sometimes they even bribe them to shut up, as is widely documented).

The above also says that "Microsoft has already been making cuts to its business over the past few months. In terms of its games business, it most notably closed streaming service Mixer just four years after acquiring it."

"Microsoft hoped people would not notice all these layoffs. But sacked employees used encrypted communication software to speak to journalists (what's left of them), so right now Microsoft is belittling their reports."We've taken stock of at least four rounds of layoffs since June and it turns out that Microsoft isn't even done sacking MSN workers. "Microsoft is reportedly making more job cuts at MSN," this report says, echoing the "HEY HI" (AI) spin. As if it's OK to lay off staff because of some buzzword.

"Microsoft announced the closure of all the physical stores to focus exclusively on online sales," Brian Adam said. Again... pure spin.

These closures alone (about 100 stores) would be over 1,000 people.

We're accustomed to this sort of spin, having seen it at the European Patent Office (EPO), Novell and other institutions that we studied very closely. We speak to people from the EPO and from Microsoft, so we have insight (but cannot elaborate too much; source protection first). We also spoke to Novell insiders, who gave us tips and information.

Microsoft hoped people would not notice all these layoffs. But sacked employees used encrypted communication software to speak to journalists (what's left of them), so right now Microsoft is belittling their reports. As one might expect.

Recent Techrights' Posts

More Confirmatory Rumours Regarding "Massive" Red Hat Layoffs
Ecosystem and sales said to be targeted
Office Meetings Are Most Useful to the Least Productive Workers
In my "office life" days I really didn't like meetings
Claim That the Board of Directors at IBM Isn't Happy With How the Company is Run
IBM tries to project an image of strength to the whole world, especially to its clients
'Cancel Culture' Doesn't Work (in the Long Run)
Despite all the attacks, I'm enjoying life, I'm keeping productive, and our audience continues to grow
 
If You Don't Want "Linux" to Become "Windows", Then Follow GNU
GAFAM isn't a friend of Linux; it's only a user in the same sense clients are "users" of a brothel
IBM Quiet About Its Plan for Red Hat Amid Accelerated Bluewashing
Something is going on at Red Hat
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part V - It Seems Like Some People Are Already Leaving "The Mafia"
they have a rough idea of what's coming
Microsoft Means War, Microsoft is on the Side of ICE
Microsoft, people-ready
Proprietary UNIX is What We'll Have If IBM Red Hat Gets Its Way
IBM Red Hat wants to control everything, even if that means killing everybody
Free Software in Times of Peace (and Times of War, Too)
GAFAM and IBM are war companies
Founder of GNU/Linux (RMS) Speaks in US University (College) This Week
The auditorium has very high capacity and this is his "college comeback" talk in the United States
LinuxSecurity and Linuxiac Are Still Slopfarms, Even Anthony Pell Does It
We suppose waiting another month or another year won't change a thing
Links 18/01/2026: Legal Trouble for xAI, Climate Concerns, Data Breaches and More
Links for the day
'Vibe Coding', Chatbots, and Other Bots (e.g. "Agents" Disguised as "Superintelligence") Aren't Saving You Time
False marketing, FOMO marketing tactics
Gemini Links 19/01/2026: Analog Cameras and Plucker in 2026, US Losing Acceptability in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 18, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 18, 2026
Links 18/01/2026: The "Deepfake Porn Site Formerly Known as Twitter" and Turkey to Block Kids' Access to Social Control Media
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/01/2026: Against English as Language of the Net, "Symposium of Destruction"
Links for the day
You Would Expect This Kind of Misleading Narrative Shortly Before Microsoft (or GAFAM) Mass Layoffs
misleading PR
FOSDEM 2026: democracy panel, GNOME & Sonny Piers modern slavery experiment
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Pump-and-Dump With IBM Shares, Courtesy of People Who Stand to Gain From the 'Pump'
"3 Reasons to Buy IBM Stock Right Now"
IBM: Spying on Staff Like Never Before and Implementing Silent Layoffs This Month, Say Insiders
what we heard from whistleblowers seems to corroborate
IBM is Not a Free Software Company (It Never Was)
Red Hat's main product, RHEL, is full of secret sauce and has 'secret recipes' (it is basically proprietary)
IBM Turning Up the 'RTO' (Stress) and 'PIP' (Fear) Heat on Workers, Rebellion May be Brewing
Sometimes it feels like today's executives at IBM view IBM workers as a liability
Links 18/01/2026: Indonesia Against Comedy, Media-Hostile (Censors Comedians) Convicted Felon in White House Defecting to Opponents of NATO
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Still up (statCounter Says to 6%) in Bosnia And Herzegovina
Let's see where it is at year's end
Making Layout Changes
Feedback can be sent to us
Behind an Economy of Fake 'Worths' and Fictional 'Valuations' or 'Market Caps'
They normalise white-collar crime and say "everyone is doing it!"
Links 18/01/2026: "South Africa is Running Out of Software Developers", Companies Spooked to Find Slop is a Major Liability
Links for the day
Eventually the Joke (and Financial Fraud) is on Microsoft, Stigmatised for Slop
Is Microsoft trying to commit suicide?
GNU/Linux Leaps to All-time Highs in Virgin Islands
it seems to have started around the "end of 10"
Place Your Bets: Who Will Die First? Microsoft or IBM?
Not even joking; make a guess
Making and Keeping the Sites Accessible
Sometimes less does mean "more" (or "MOAR")
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part IV - How Europe's Largest Patent Office Recruited Drug Addicts, Antisemites, and People Who Absolutely Cannot Do the Job (But Know the 'Right' People)
To better overlap industrial actions we might delay/postpone/pause this series for a bit
Restoring Professional Pride in the Tech Sector
Rejecting slop isn't being a Luddite
Benefiting by Adding Presence in Geminispace
As the Web gets worse, not limited to bloat as a factor, people seek alternatives
Google News Recently Started Syndicating Another Slopfarm, Linuxiac
Even if Google is aware that there is slop there, it's hard to believe that Google will mind
Slop Bubble "Is Worse Than The Dot Com Bubble"
Edward Zitron Says It like it is
Software Patents and USMCA (or NAFTA)
We recently pondered going back to issuing 2-3 articles per day about patents and common issues with them
IBM Sued Over PIPs
PIPs are "performance improvement plans"
Sites With "Linux" in Their Name That Are in Effect Slopfarms and Issue Fake Articles
We try to name some of the prolific culprits
Gemini Links 18/01/2026: Raising Notifications From Terminal and Environmental Sanity
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 17, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 17, 2026
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Links 17/01/2026: Internet Blackout Normalised, Russian Attacks Civilians by Causing Massive Blackouts
Links for the day
Microsoft Lunduke Keeps Distracting From the Real Problems With Rust
Microsoft Lunduke is stigmatising critics
Linuxiac Has Become a Slopfarm, Calling Them Out Isn't Fixing That
What a shame. A once-decent site about "Linux" bites the dust.
Luzern Lion Monument, Albanian Female Whistleblowers: Swiss jurists were cowards
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Splinternet is Already Here, Owing to the Militarisation of Technology (Slop, Social Control Media, Back Doors, and More)
you know what's gonna happen next...
Stack Ranking Against IBM/Red Hat Staff and a Signal of Mass Layoffs (RAs) Justified by Red Hat and IBM as Poor Performance/Misconduct/Other
Working in an atmosphere like this sounds like a nightmare
Gemini Links 17/01/2026: Slow computing and Environment Leak
Links for the day
Links 17/01/2026: US Censorship and Violence Crisis, Growing Anger Levels Against Slop Sold as "Intelligence"
Links for the day
Microsoft's "valuation depends on infrastructure that does not exist."
Indeed
The Typical Trajectory: Datamation Began Experimenting With LLM Slop for Fake Articles. Then Datamation Died. (Last Month)
It's always ending up this way
Accounts or Devices (e.g. Phones) That Get 'Burnt' Have Many Pitfalls
Embassies and consulates habitually fail at this
Avoiding the Spooks (Nobody Watches the Watchers, They're Practically Unaccountable)
If more people adopt encryption, it'll be easier for us to deal with whistleblowers
Protecting Whistleblowers Requires Technical Knowledge/Skills
even the highest media judges aren't aware of how to protect sources
At Least 5 Women Quit Brett Wilson LLP in Recent Months. It's the Firm That Attacked My Wife and I on Behalf of Americans (One of Them Strangled Women).
It seems like good news that the women escape this workplace
Slop About Slop and Slop About "Linux"
In short, avoid slopfarms
Report/Benchmark Says 'Vibe Coding' Results in Security Holes
There are risks they don't like talking about
EPO Abuses Covered in Spanish
Knowing what we know (and heard/saw), the sinister silence of the media is perceived by some to be complicity of the lower order.
Richard Stallman Encourages "ICE Out For Good" Protests, His Opponents Do Not (Passive and Uncaring About Human Rights)
He has done a lot philosophically, politically, and so on
Record Traffic in Geminispace or Over Gemini Protocol
it's never too late to join
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part III - Europe's Second-Largest Organisation on Strike, Protests, Other Industrial Actions to Come Impacting Over 95% of the Workforce
The EPO's management is highly evasive, weak, and vulnerable
Claim That IBM Marked 15% of its Workforce for Potential Layoffs
No wonder we keep hearing from Red Hat people who say they hate IBM
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 16, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 16, 2026