Microsoft to lay off 9,000 employees

Microsoft announced that it had started cutting the jobs of 9,000 employees.

A company spokesperson said it will impact less than 4% of its total workforce, Bloomberg reported.

They will occur across teams, locations and even tenure, to cut down the layers of management and streamline operations, the spokesperson said.

Game division employees were told by a memo from Xbox chief Phil Spencer, IGN reported.

He did not name specific changes that would be happening, telling workers, “any organizational shifts will be shared by your team leaders in the coming days."

“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,” Spencer wrote, according to IGN.

This is the second round of layoffs to hit the company this year. In May, 6,000 employees were let go, targeting product and engineering jobs, Bloomberg reported. Another 300 jobs were cut in June.

A spokesperson, in an email to CNBC said, “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.”