Microsoft's recent layoffs have disproportionately impacted software engineers, highlighting the growing influence of artificial intelligence in traditional programming roles.
In Microsoft's home state of Washington, software engineering was by far the largest job category affected, comprising more than 40% of the roughly 2,000 positions eliminated according to state filings reviewed by Bloomberg. Relatively few sales or marketing positions were impacted in comparison. These cuts are part of a broader reduction affecting approximately 6,000 employees—about 3% of Microsoft's global workforce of 228,000.
The timing is particularly notable as it follows CEO Satya Nadella's recent revelation that 20-30% of code in Microsoft's repositories is now written by AI. During a fireside chat with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at LlamaCon last month, Nadella stated, "I'd say maybe 20%, 30% of the code that is inside of our repos today and some of our projects are probably all written by software." He added that this percentage is steadily increasing, with AI showing particularly strong results in Python programming while still struggling with more complex C++ code.
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott has made even bolder predictions, suggesting that 95% of all code could be AI-generated by 2030. This aligns with similar trends at other tech giants—Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently claimed that AI generates more than 30% of his company's code.
When asked directly whether the layoffs were motivated by the rise of AI-assisted coding, Microsoft declined to comment. The company has officially stated that the cuts aim to reduce management layers and implement "organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace."
Industry experts suggest that while AI won't completely replace human programmers, it is dramatically changing the nature of software development. As companies increasingly leverage AI for code generation, developers will need to adapt by focusing more on guiding AI systems through effective prompting rather than writing every line of code manually. This shift represents a significant transformation in how software is created, with implications for the future workforce across the tech industry.