WASHINGTON — Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry.

It will affect up to 5% of its global workforce and cost the business $1.2 billion in severance and reorganization costs.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that while customer spending had grown during COVID, more were now choosing to “exercise caution”.

He said the firm would continue to hire in key areas.

Hundreds of tech firms, including some of the sector’s biggest names like Amazon and Instagram-owner Meta, have revealed layoffs in recent weeks.

Like other tech companies, Microsoft’s business boomed during the pandemic, fueled by the increase in remote work and other online activity.

Its workforce grew by roughly 40,000 between June 2021 and June 2022, when it reported having about 221,000 full-time employees, including 99,000 outside of the US.

As business slowed last year, the firm embarked on a series of job cuts. — BBC