Microsoft pauses hiring in North America and cloud sales teams
Microsoft is putting a freeze on new hires in its cloud and North American sales teams as the company wraps up its fiscal year in June 2026.
The move is all about tightening costs and boosting profits, with executives telling teams to hold off on bringing in anyone who doesn't already have an offer.
Microsoft isn't alone in this trend
Microsoft isn't alone: Meta and Amazon have also made big cuts in recent months, with Meta reported to be planning layoffs that could affect up to 20% of its workforce (and reportedly laying off a few hundred people across teams) and Amazon cutting 30,000 corporate roles to get more efficient with AI.
Even so, Microsoft is still hiring for its Copilot AI tool teams, showing that while some areas are slowing down, AI work is definitely still a priority.