Phil Spencer says Xbox layoffs were ‘painful’

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Microsoft’s chief of gaming, Phil Spencer, spoke about this week’s round of job cuts at the company, telling employees that they were “painful choices.”

On Wednesday, Microsoft confirmed its plans to lay off approximately 4.5% of the US tech giant’s workforce of 220,000 (about 10,000 people).

Ultimately, this was confirmed to have affected the company’s gaming departments, particularly developer Halo 343 Industries, Bethesda Game Studios, and marketing.

On Friday, Phil Spencer sent out a company-wide email, obtained and published by Kotaku, telling employees that the cuts would set it up for long-term success.

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“This has been a tough week across Microsoft, and here, within our teams,” he wrote. “Now that many individual conversations and group conversations have occurred, I’d like to take a moment to reiterate the message I heard from your leaders.

“This is a challenging moment in our work, and this week’s actions were painful choices. The Games leadership team had to make decisions that we felt set us up for the long-term success of our products and business, but the individual results of those decisions are real. I know it hurts. Thank you for the support of our colleagues. while processing these changes.

The email continued: “Over the coming weeks, we will have many opportunities to connect and answer your questions, including a monthly game update next week for the teams attending this meeting, and I am in close contact with the teams at ZeniMax to provide support.

“We and GLT are committed to being as transparent as possible. Moving forward in the shadow of uncertainty is a challenge, but I am confident that together we will get through this difficult moment in time.

“Xbox has a long history of success thanks to the work it does in serving gamers, creators and each other. Your work is deeply appreciated and valued in these times of change and is integral to our business momentum.

“I am confident in our future and proud to be part of this team, but I also know that this is a challenging time and I want to thank you for all you do here.”

Microsoft said on Wednesday that the cuts are being made “in response to macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

According to a Business Insider report published the same day, the company was deliberately targeting what it believed were “low-performing employees” in at least some parts of the company.

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