Tech Companies on Mass Retrenchment Drive, Microsoft to Lay Off 1,900 Workers

Microsoft, one of the biggest software companies, has decided to lay off about 1,900 workers from its gaming division. These include workers from Activision Blizzard and Xbox. In recent weeks, some big companies in the technology sector have laid off thousands of workers.

About eight percent of the staff at Microsoft’s gaming division is being laid off. Most of these are at Activision Blizzard. Microsoft Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard a few months ago for about $69 billion to strengthen its position in the video gaming market, which is dominated by Japanese consumer electronics company Sony. Microsoft said that Blizzard’s president, Mike Ybarra, is also leaving the company.

Communications Workers of America (CWA) said, “Microsoft’s announcement of laying off nearly 1,900 workers from its video game division makes it clear that even if you are employed by a successful company in a profitable industry, your job is not secure. We will continue to help workers who seek union intervention.” In the past few weeks, many big technology companies, including Alphabet, which runs the internet search engine Google, have laid off thousands of workers. The main reason behind this is efforts to reduce costs and increase profits.

Earlier this week, Microsoft’s market value had crossed $3 trillion. The world’s second most valued company Company It retained its position as the biggest company in the world. American devices maker Apple ranks first in the stock market in terms of value. Since the beginning of this year, there has been a competition between the shares of Apple and Microsoft for the first place in market capitalization. Earlier this month, the market capitalization of Microsoft exceeded that of iPhone maker Apple for the first time in two years. This made it the most valued company in the world. However, after this Apple regained its top position. Microsoft’s share price rose 1.7 percent to a record high of $405.63 on Wednesday. With this, the market capitalization of the company crossed three trillion dollars.