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Microsoft has become the latest technology giant to cut jobs, joining the likes of Amazon, Google and Meta in slashing their workforce.
The Seattle-based firm has confirmed 10,000 employees will be laid off, with chief executive Satya Nadella saying the changes were necessary to cope with macroeconomic conditions while ensuring the firm was well-placed to capitalise on emerging opportunities like artificial intelligence (AI).
“We’re living through times of significant change, and as I meet with customers and partners, a few things are clear,” he said “First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimise their digital spend to do more with less.
“We’re also seeing organisations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one. At the same time, the next major wave of computing is being born with advances in AI, as we’re turning the world’s most advanced models into a new computing platform.
“This is the context in which we as a company must strive to deliver results on an ongoing basis, while investing in our long-term opportunity.”
Reports suggest that the layoffs impact several sports-facing divisions, including gaming and augmented reality (VR and AR) technology. Social VR firm AltspaceVR will be closed in March and the team behind the Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK) framework will also be shuttered. Although Microsoft Mesh, a VR/AR collaboration tool for business, will continue, the closures heavily decimate the teams working on HoloLens and other mixed reality projects.
The layoffs are the latest to impact a technology industry adapting to global economic pressures and changing trends. Customer expenditure is down, interest rates are soaring, and a market correction is taking place after lockdown restrictions caused a surge in demand and several recruitment drives among technology firms.
Amazon started the year by eliminating 18,000 roles, Google’s parent company Alphabet has culled 12,000 employees, while Meta finished 2022 by reducing its headcount by 11,000 – 13 per cent of its total workforce. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s reforms at Twitter could see staffing numbers fall below 2,000.
Figures from Layoffs.fyi suggest more than 200,000 technology roles have been cut since the start of 2022.
The ever-growing ties between the worlds of sport and technology mean the former must take note of developments in the latter – and that includes macro trends like redundancies.
Sports organisations of all sizes have shifted to cloud computing, now use enterprise-grade software to optimise their operations and have adapted analytics for sports-specific use cases. The industry is also looking towards big tech for the next wave of technologies that will drive performance on and off the field and deepen fan engagement.
Mixed reality and the metaverse are two such innovations, but Microsoft has apparently cooled its interest. This seems more of a strategic decision than a lack of faith in the concept, paving the way for others like Meta and Apple to take the lead, with Microsoft focusing on its core productivity and cloud operations and integrating new innovations like generative AI.
However, it does show how the future of sport can be affected by decisions made elsewhere.
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