Tech Layoffs 2025: Microsoft, IBM, Intel Lead Massive Job Cuts – Over 1 Lakh Jobs Lost Globally

The year 2025 has brought with it a wave of uncertainty and disruption in the tech industry. Formerly considered the most secure and innovative sector, tech is now at the centre of an employment extremity. Over 1 lakh (100,000) jobs have been slashed encyclopaedically in just the first half of the time, with major players like Microsoft, IBM, Intel, and others leading these large- scale layoffs. 

From cost- cutting enterprise and profitable retardations to the rapid-fire integration of artificial intelligence (AI), several factors have contributed to this extremity. Let’s explore the scale of these layoffs, the reasons behind them, and what it means for the future of the tech pool. 

Microsoft’s Layoffs Restructuring for the AI period 

In July 2025, Microsoft confirmed its second major round of layoffs this year, affecting 9,100 employees, roughly 4% of its global workforce. This follows an earlier round in May, where 6,000 workers were let go. The cumulative effect has displaced over 15,000 employees in just seven months.

Teams impacted include:

• Xbox and gaming division
• Azure cloud roles
• Marketing and sales departments
• Mid-level management

Interestingly, Microsoft’s layoffs are not a sign of financial trouble. The company recently reported record-breaking revenue, exceeding $70 billion, with profits reaching $26 billion. Rather, the layoffs appear to be part of a larger realignment toward AI and robotization. 

CEO Satya Nadella has openly spoken about the transformative power of AI, noting that tools like Skipper are now responsible for generating up to 30 of law written by inventors at Microsoft. This signals a shift in hiring and retention strategies, where companies are fastening on places that round AI — not contend with it. 

Intel’s Massive Restructuring Up to 20 pool Reduction 

Intel is witnessing one of its most dramatic overhauls in decades. The chipmaker is anticipated to cut between 15 to 20 of its global pool, which translates to over 20,000 workers. In July 2025, Intel began layoffs at its Santa Clara headquarters, including the elimination of 107 places and the complete arrestment of its automotive chip unit. 

This comes at a critical time for Intel: 

• The company is facing violent competition from NVIDIA, AMD, and Apple’s custom silicon. 
• It’s investing heavily in AI and foundry operations, with government support via the CHIPS Act.
• Despite major losses in former diggings, Intel is laying big on AI- related tackle and data center expansion. 

Intel’s cost- cutting measures are meant to streamline its structure and direct on high- performing divisions like data center processors and AI chips. The company’s new CEO, Lip- Bu Tan, has emphasized the need to be" spare, focused, and unborn-ready." 

IBM’s Layoffs: Automation Over Administration

IBM has laid off around 8,000 workers in 2025, largely in executive and mortal resource departments. The explanation behind this is IBM’s adding reliance on AI- powered systems that can handle tasks similar as:
•    Employee onboarding
•    Payroll and benefits
•    Internal communication
•    Recruitment processes

The company has doubled down on using tools like WatsonX — its AI platform — to streamline operations. While IBM continues to hire for AI, amount computing, and cybersecurity places, it's cutting back on positions seen as repetitious or fluently automated. 

This is an important illustration of how AI is not just affecting coders and masterminds it’s starting to replace support staff as well.

Google, Amazon, Meta and Others Join the List

Other tech giants have not been spared from the layoff wave:

• Google has reportedly trimmed thousands of roles in its hardware, ad sales, and cloud infrastructure divisions.
• Amazon cut around 14,000 jobs, including in its devices and Alexa voice assistant units.
•  Meta (formerly Facebook) has let go of thousands across multiple teams, including Reality Labs, which focuses on VR/AR technology.

All these companies cite a “shift in priorities” as their main reason—specifically, diverting resources toward AI development, cloud services, and leaner business models.

The Bigger Picture: Over 1 Lakh Tech Jobs Lost in 2025

According to data from multiple sources, over 1 lakh tech jobs have been eliminated globally by mid-2025. This number is higher than layoffs seen during the pandemic years and marks a dramatic reversal from the aggressive hiring seen in 2021–2022.

Key reasons behind the layoffs:

1. AI and Automation – As seen with Microsoft and IBM, many companies are replacing human roles with AI tools.
2. Profitable Pressures – Affectation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical insecurity have led companies to slash budgets. 
3. Overhiring During the Epidemic – Tech enterprises hired aggressively in 2021 – 2022 but failed to sustain that growth. 
4. Shifting Consumer Demand – retardations in PC deals, smartphone shipments, and advertising profit have impacted profitability. 
5. Spare places – Companies are barring middle- operation layers and lapping functions. 

Impact on India’s Tech pool 

While utmost layoffs are concentrated in North America and Europe, Indian IT capitals like Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad are feeling the ripple goods. 

• Several Indian workers working for U.S. chains have faced termination. 
• Outsourcing places in client service, testing, and operations are also under scrutiny. 
• Still, India’s tech ecosystem is also rotating to AI — creating openings in areas like machine literacy, prompt engineering, and data analysis. 

Original startups and training institutes are prompting professionals to reskill snappily to stay applicable in this evolving terrain. 

What This Means for Tech Professionals 

Tech layoffs are no longer limited to underperformers or small startups. Even top performers in elite companies are facing pink slips, especially in roles that can be automated.
Then’s what professionals should consider: 

• Upskill in AI/ ML places in data wisdom, machine literacy, and pall engineering remain in high demand. 
• Focus on Creativity and Strategy Tasks that bear mortal sapience, problem- working, and invention are harder to replace. 
• Make a particular Brand In a competitive request, having a strong LinkedIn profile and portfolio can open freelance or consulting openings. 
• Examine developing markets. There may be fresh prospects in the developing IT markets in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. 

Response from the government and policy

The scale of layoffs has sparked exchanges about labor laws, severance packages, and social safety nets. Some governments are:

• Offering reskilling programs in AI and automation.
• Creating job guarantee schemes for displaced IT workers.
• Discussing tech layoff regulations that require companies to provide longer notice periods and retraining support.

India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT is reportedly working on a national AI Upskilling Mission to prepare the workforce for these changes.

Conclusion: A Transformative, Not Terminal, Phase

2025 is not the end of the tech assiduity — it’s a transformational moment. The wide layoffs, however painful, are part of a larger reset driven by AI, effectiveness, and evolving business models. 
For companies, this is a time to reallocate coffers toward invention. For professionals, it’s a wake- up call to evolve with technology rather than be replaced by it. Still, it’s that the tech sector always bounces back — only this time, it'll look veritably different. 
If the once tells us anything. The future belongs to those who are ready to acclimatize, reskill, and lead in the AI age.