Microsoft has launched the first collective redundancy plan in Italy. The company confirmed it to Italian Tech. The redundancies will be 59 of the approximately 1,000 employees hired between Rome and Milan. The negotiations, it is learned from union sources, will begin next week.
The company confirms that it has opened consultations with the unions “in order to find an agreement to better manage the redundancy plan”. “Decisions that impact our people are particularly difficult, and we are committed to ensuring that all those impacted receive our full support,” the company said. According to Wired, which cites sources close to the ongoing negotiations with the unions, the cuts will affect the sales department, and 16 of the 59 employees are currently managers of the multinational.
The collective layoff is part of the global redundancy plan decided on January 17 by the Seattle company. 10,000 staff cuts which, according to the company, should lead to 1.2 billion in savings a year. Moved by changed economic conditions, inflation and international uncertainties, as CEO Satya Nadella explained at the beginning of the year.
“We are witnessing great changes: organizations all over the world are showing signs of caution given the global economic uncertainty”, they say from Microsoft, which confirms the investment plans “in strategic growth areas to respond to market needs and of businesses”. The one in OpenAi, the company that created ChatGpt is one of them. On January 27, Redmond announced a “multi-million dollar” investment in the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company, to then integrate its software into products such as Bing and Office.
However, conditions have changed. And the cuts are necessary for the company. Also in Italy. As already Meta, the holding of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, and Yahoo have done in recent months. “Decisions that impact our people are especially difficult, and we are committed to ensuring that all those impacted receive our full support,” Microsoft concludes.