Microsoft Corporation Layoff — September 2026
SOURCEOFFICIAL FILINGWashington State Employment Security Department· filed July 6, 2026View the filing ↗
What we know
Location: Washington, USA (Permanent County).
Department affected: Xbox Game Studios (and broader teams including cloud, AI, marketing, research).
A WARN notice for this layoff is recorded on July 6, 2026.
Disclosed through an official WARN filing with the WA state workforce agency.
Summary
Microsoft announced additional job cuts tied to an Xbox restructuring and broader reevaluations across the company, stating the total reductions number fewer than 600 globally, with about 300 of those positions in Washington state (a state filing later put the official Washington total at 277). Worldwide, Microsoft is cutting 268 roles within Xbox Game Studios, including Halo Studios, other first-party studios and division management and operating teams; the latest Xbox cuts are part of a previously announced plan to reduce roughly 3,200 Xbox roles this fiscal year. The company said the Xbox restructuring is now about 75% complete and described the broader reductions as part of ongoing business realignment as teams reassess their needs amid heavy investment in AI and cloud. The article notes studio reorganizations and divestitures (moving the next Halo game to Activision, moving studios between publishers, possible shutdowns) and provides context on prior rounds of layoffs in 2025 and July 2026.
Microsoft Corporation disclosed this layoff in an official WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice recorded by the WA state workforce agency on July 6, 2026. The notice covers 605 employees in Redmond, WA (Permanent County), with the layoff effective September 4, 2026.
That is roughly 0.3% of the 228,000 people Microsoft Corporation employs.
LayoffTalk has tracked 52 layoff events at Microsoft Corporation since January 2023, including 4,344 jobs documented in official WARN filings, with 37 additional events known from news reporting.
Comments (0)
Anonymous by default. Be kind — people reading this may be going through it right now.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.
Affected by this?
Share your story anonymously — it helps others reading this feel less alone.
Share your story →More layoffs at Microsoft Corporation
Recent tracked events at this company.
Recent layoffs in WA
Other companies with tracked events in the same state.