Staff will be laid off in Microsoft’s gaming division, decision taken to increase profit
Microsoft, one of the largest software companies, has decided to lay off about 1,900 workers from its gaming division. These include workers from Activision Blizzard and Xbox. In recent weeks, some big companies in the technology sector have laid off thousands of workers.
About eight percent of the staff in Microsoft’s gaming division is being laid off. Most of these are in Activision Blizzard. Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard a few months ago for about $69 billion to strengthen its position in the video gaming market. Japan’s consumer electronics company Sony holds the first position in this market. Microsoft said that Blizzard’s president, Mike Ybarra, is also leaving the company.
“Microsoft’s announcement that it will lay off nearly 1,900 workers from its video game division makes it clear that even if you work for a successful company in a for-profit industry, your job is not secure,” the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said. We will continue to assist workers who seek union intervention on this matter.” In the last few weeks, many big technology companies, including Alphabet, which runs Internet search engine Google, have laid off thousands of workers. The main reasons behind this are efforts to reduce costs and increase profits.
Earlier this week, Microsoft’s market value had crossed three trillion dollars. It retained its position as the world’s second most valued company. American devices maker Apple ranks first in terms of value in the stock market. Since the beginning of this year, there is competition between the shares of Apple and Microsoft for the first place in market capitalization. Earlier this month, Microsoft’s market capitalization overtook that of iPhone maker Apple for the first time in two years. This made it the most valuable company in the world. However, after this Apple regained its top position. Microsoft’s share price rose 1.7 percent to a record high of $405.63 on Wednesday. With this, the market capitalization of the company had crossed three trillion dollars.
