Microsoft has cut an unspecified number of job openings, mirroring the broader tech sector, as the industry braces for a slowdown in the economy, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. Cuts include areas like the Azure cloud division and security software, but Microsoft has declined to put a number to the cutback in job openings.
Apple, Google, and Github has also cut back on job offers recently, with Google pausing all hiring at the company for a full two weeks, according to a story that broke this week in The Information. Google will still honour any offers already made for jobs, unlike crypto companies like Coinbase, which recently yanked existing job offers during the most recent cryptocurrency crash.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment early Thursday but gave Bloomberg the kind of corporate-speak statement we’ve come to expect from virtually any major tech firm during a potential disruption, saying it was, “making sure the right resources are aligned to the right opportunity,” and that it will, “continue to grow headcount in the year ahead.”
While some indicators for the U.S. economy are looking good, such as incredibly low unemployment, there are other factors making corporate America nervous. Inflation is at a 40-year high of 9.1% and the Federal Reserve is likely to further increase interest rates dramatically in order to slow both inflation and wage growth, effectively manufacturing a recession to get both things lower.
One of the only huge tech companies that doesn’t appear to be slowing down hiring is Amazon, but that company struggles with keeping people given its notoriously toxic work environment. In fact, Amazon’s attrition is so bad it may run out of warehouse workers to hire in the U.S. by 2024, according to a leaked internal study.
Microsoft may be slowing hiring, but at least it’s not so hated by workers that it’s in danger of running through the entire U.S. workforce in just a few years. You gotta look at the bright side sometimes.