Microsoft to cut jobs in a number of engineering divisions this week as layoffs go deeper

Microsoft employs more than 221,000 people worldwide, including 3,500 in Ireland.

The magnitude of the cuts couldn't be learned, but the person, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential matters, said the reduction will be significantly larger than other rounds at Microsoft in the past year. Those cuts impacted less than 1pc of the software giant's workforce.

Microsoft most recently shrank its workforce in October and July, and has eliminated open positions and paused hiring in various groups. While technology peers such as Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Salesforce Inc. have announced cuts by the thousands in the past few months, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has so far been taking smaller steps to deal with a worsening global economic outlook and the potential for a protracted slowdown in demand for software and services.

A representative for Microsoft declined to comment. The shares, which have dropped 23pc in the past year, were little changed at $240.35 at the close in New York on Tuesday. Sky News earlier reported the company was planning to cut around 11,000 jobs, and Insider reported that Microsoft could reduce its recruiting staff by as much as a third.

Microsoft is forecast to post a sales gain of 2pc in the fiscal second quarter when it reports earnings on Jan. 24. That would be the slowest revenue increase since fiscal 2017. Since then, Microsoft's cloud-computing business has fuelled a resurgence in growth, but even that business has begun to decelerate in the past year.

Still, the company has waited longer than many other technology leaders to significantly slash staff. Cloud rival Amazon is laying off more than 18,000 employees, the biggest reduction in its history. Facebook parent Meta announced widespread job cuts last fall, and beleaguered social network Twitter Inc. has slashed about half its workforce. Corporate cloud-software maker Salesforce laid off about 10pc of workers earlier this month.