[linkgoron]

Microsoft hired a lot of people post-covid. Googling, they went from 125k employees in 2017, to 163k in 2020, to 221k in 2022, and have been mostly steady in size since then (latest number from 2025 is 228k).

How "temporary" is overhiring? I think that they could probably cut quite a bit from the company, and it might actually improve their output.

[johnnyanmac]

They keep doing cuts but their employee count in 2025 is still higher than whenever we identify "overhiring" to have occured? Meanwhile, we know US hiring is on the downswing the past few years.

Doesn't sound like a company that actually cares about "overhiring". More that where they hire is shifting.

[Amhais]

There are a ton of passengers at Microsoft, and many sit in the middle of our unnecessarily bureaucratic processes. They would absolutely do well to trim down.