Microsoft has stopped hiring in the US consulting department as a cost-cutting measure, CNBC reported
(Reuters) – Microsoft plans to lay off part of its consulting business in the U.S. to cut costs, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing an internal memo.
The tech giant is looking to rein in overall costs as it looks to continue investments in its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.
Earlier this month, Microsoft said it plans to invest about $80 billion by 2025 to develop data centers to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications.
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The consulting division will hire new employees and stop filling roles to cut costs, according to a memo to employees from consultant Derek Danois, CNBC reported.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Danois writes that careful management of expenses is essential. The memo instructs employees not to incur the cost of any internal meetings and use remote sessions instead.
The changes to the US consulting division are to align with the policies of Microsoft’s client and partner solutions firm, which has about 60,000 employees, CNBC reported.
According to the report, the unit will reduce the cost of non-marketable external resources by 35%.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
