Microsoft will lay off thousands of employees globally on Wednesday, including staff from its Gaming/Xbox division.

“To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness,”Microsoft Gaming Chief, Phil Spencer, said in a memo to staff.

“Out of respect for those impacted today, the specifics of today’s notifications and any organizational shifts will be shared by your team leaders in the coming days.”

According to Variety, the cuts will impact less than 4 per cent of Microsoft’s total workforce of about 228,000 employees.

“We continue to implement organizational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said Wednesday.

Employees had anticipated the layoffs since May, when Microsoft started companywide job cuts, raising concerns that the gaming division could be affected.

Many staff found out last week via a Bloomberg report that the layoffs were imminent.

This marks the fourth major round of layoffs at Xbox in the past 18 months.

Since acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in October 2023, Microsoft executives have pressured the gaming division to improve profit margins.