Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently sent a memo to employees, trying to explain the company’s decision to cut thousands of jobs, even though it’s making huge profits and investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI). But instead of bringing comfort, the memo left many employees confused and worried.
According to a report, Microsoft employees are questioning the real reason behind the memo. Some wonder if more job cuts are coming, while others feel the message was meant more for investors than workers. There’s also criticism that the memo felt “tone-deaf,” considering how well the company is doing financially.
In the memo, Nadella said he has been thinking a lot about the recent layoffs and knows that many employees are also concerned. He acknowledged that laying off staff is one of the hardest decisions a company has to make and thanked the employees who have left for their contributions.
But workers aren’t convinced. One employee said they couldn’t tell if Nadella was trying to make people feel better or prepare them for more bad news. Another said the company seems to care more about performance metrics than its people. One person even compared Microsoft to a coal mine that only wants to extract resources, without caring about the workers.
Microsoft has cut around 15,000 jobs this year. At the same time, the company has earned nearly $75 billion in profit over three quarters and is spending $80 billion on AI infrastructure. Its stock price has risen 21% this year and reached a record high in July.
In his memo, Nadella said Microsoft is doing very well in terms of market growth and business performance. He called this situation an “enigma of success”—where the company is growing but still making tough decisions like layoffs. He said the company’s total number of employees hasn’t changed much and that some employees are being rewarded at higher levels than ever before.
However, many staff members weren’t happy with this explanation. Some posted jokes about the memo on internal message boards, saying it was written more to please investors than employees.
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Nadella ended the memo by saying that Microsoft’s future success depends on the ability to adapt, learn new things, and leave behind old ways. He expressed confidence that the company will move forward strongly in this new phase.
