Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) has paused the recruitment of new employees for its consulting department in the United States and is carrying out small-scale layoffs to reduce costs.

According to a leaked internal memo, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) plans to halt recruitment for some of its consulting business in the United States. The memo stated that the freeze measures are expected to continue for the remainder of the current fiscal year until June. Consulting department executive Derek Danois instructed the department to pause hiring new employees and filling vacancies to reduce costs. The memo also called for employees to minimize travel expenses. The department also plans to cut marketing and non-billable external resource expenses by 35%. The growth rate of the consulting department is lower than Microsoft Corporation's productivity software subscription and Azure cloud computing business. The consulting department's revenue in the quarter ending in September was $1.9 billion, a decrease of about 1% from the same period last year, while Azure revenue was at 33%. Another report stated that Microsoft Corporation plans to lay off employees in the security, experience and devices, gaming, and sales departments. A Microsoft Corporation spokesperson stated that the expected number of layoffs would be minimal. Last week, Microsoft Corporation revealed that it would be laying off less than 1% of employees in multiple departments based on performance. This translates to about 2,200 positions. In January 2023, Microsoft Corporation laid off approximately 10,000 employees. Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company laid off 1,900 employees in January 2024, mainly in the gaming department.