Microsoft Joins the Tech Sector Hiring Slowdown

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Microsoft said it is going to slow hiring in select divisions, following similar moves from other tech giants such as Nvidia , Meta, Uber Technologies, and Twitter.

The company’s spokesperson told Barron’s it wants to make sure the right resources are aligned to the right opportunity as it gets ready for the new fiscal year, which starts in July.

To be sure,

Microsoft

(ticker: MSFT) will grow its head count in this year ahead but is putting additional focus on where its resources go. The slowdown is blamed on economic uncertainty and will be felt specifically in the Windows, Office, and Teams chat and conferencing software groups, which were expanded recently, according to a Bloomberg report.

The news comes right after a similar announcement from

Nvidia

(NVDA), which said it is slowing hiring to focus its budget on taking care of existing employees as inflation persists.

Uber (UBER) CEO Dara Khosrowshah said the company is going to “treat hiring as a privilege and be deliberate about when and where we add head count.”

Earlier this month,

Meta

(FB), the parent company of Facebook, said it was scaling back plans for adding employees and

Twitter

(TWTR) revealed it had fired two senior executives and paused hiring for most roles.The news on Microsoft’s slowdown in hiring comes after the company said it would nearly double its worldwide budget for staff. Microsoft told Barron’s that it is increasing investment in its employees given the highly competitive environment.

Corrections & amplifications: Microsoft’s fiscal year begins in July. A previous version of this article incorrectly said it starts in September.

Write to Karishma Vanjani at [email protected]