January 16, 2025 – According to a report by tech media Windows Central, Microsoft’s Advisory Services has frozen hiring and slashed 35% of its marketing and non-billable external resource budget in response to cost-cutting measures.
The tech giant announced a global performance-based layoff in 2025, affecting employees in its security, experience, sales, devices, and gaming departments. The layoffs are estimated to impact approximately 1% of its global workforce, which translates to roughly 2,280 employees based on its total headcount of 228,000.

In a recently disclosed internal memo, Derek Danois, an executive in Microsoft’s Advisory Services, emphasized the “critical importance” of managing costs effectively within the organization.
Danois encouraged employees to minimize travel expenses for internal meetings and opt for “remote meetings” instead. Additionally, he stated that any travel arrangements and expenses related to client site visits must be approved to ensure that resources are directed towards potential customers.
The report cites possible pressure on the Advisory Services division’s performance and revenue generation as reasons for the budget cuts. Compared to Microsoft’s productivity software subscriptions and Azure cloud computing, the growth of the Advisory Services division appears to be stagnant, generating only $1.9 billion in revenue during the company’s September 2024 earnings call.