Microsoft reportedly lays off hundreds of employees from its work force

Xbox department among those affected

According to a report from Business Insider, Microsoft has made major layoffs across its entire company, with many "hundreds" of employees from many different departments finding themselves out of work.

Several teams within Microsoft have been hit with major cuts, with some divisions and subsidiaries — such as war sim developer Studio Alpha — forced to close entirely.  The cuts have reportedly affected a wide variety of in-house departments, from Microsoft's space technology division to its premier gaming platform, Xbox.  While the exact number of layoffs is unknown, Business Insider suggests it is in the region of hundreds but is overall less than 1000.

"Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly," a Microsoft spokesperson in comments to Eurogamer. "We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead."

As all global industries adjust to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, slowed production, reduced consumer spending, and a steadily increasing cost of living crisis, even some of the world's biggest and most successful companies seem to be tightening purse strings at best, and making sweeping staff cuts at worst.  As always, it is the "little people" that feel the hardest impact, forced out of work at a time of complete economic uncertainty, in a working world for which fragility has become a universal concern.

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