Microsoft to Boost Workforce with Advanced AI

Published Date : 02/11/2025 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announces plans to hire more employees, emphasizing the role of AI in increasing productivity and efficiency. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced that the company will expand its workforce, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity and efficiency. Speaking on the BG2 podcast, Nadella emphasized that the new hires will bring more leverage than the pre-AI era workforce.

The software giant's workforce remained unchanged in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in June, standing at 228,000 employees. This stability came after multiple rounds of layoffs, which reduced the total number by at least 6,000 in May and another 9,000 in July.

Nadella stated, “We will grow our headcount, but the way I look at it is, that headcount we grow will grow with a lot more leverage than the headcount we had pre-AI.” The company’s headcount had grown by 22% in the 2022 fiscal year, driven by the integration of AI tools.

Employees will need to adapt to new ways of working, Nadella explained. The company aims to ensure that they can access AI features in Microsoft 365 productivity software and the GitHub Copilot AI coding assistant. These services draw on AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI, which has a broad partnership with Microsoft and introduced its ChatGPT assistant in 2022.

Nadella highlighted that the transition to AI will involve a period of unlearning and relearning, which is expected to take about a year. “It's the unlearning and learning process that I think will take the next year or so, then the headcount growth will come with max leverage,” he said.

This shift is not unprecedented, Nadella noted. He drew parallels to past technological advancements, such as the transition from fax and inter-office memos to email and Excel spreadsheets. “Right now, any planning, any execution, starts with AI. You research with AI, you think with AI, you share with your colleagues and what have you,” he said.

The importance of AI in driving corporate innovation is evident. This week, Amazon, a key competitor in the cloud infrastructure market, cut 14,000 corporate employees. In a memo to workers, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, stated, “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones).”

Nadella provided an example of a Microsoft executive responsible for networking fiber. As the company scaled up its data center operations to meet increasing cloud demand, the executive realized she wouldn’t be able to hire all the necessary personnel. Instead, she built AI agents to handle maintenance tasks, demonstrating how AI can enhance productivity.

Nadella’s vision aligns with Microsoft’s recent financial performance. On Wednesday, the company reported a 12% year-over-year revenue growth and achieved the widest operating margin since 2002. The integration of AI tools is expected to play a crucial role in sustaining this growth and maintaining Microsoft's competitive edge in the tech industry. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is Microsoft's plan for workforce expansion?

A: Microsoft plans to expand its workforce while leveraging AI to enhance productivity and efficiency. CEO Satya Nadella announced this on the BG2 podcast.

Q: How has Microsoft's workforce changed in recent years?

A: Microsoft's workforce remained unchanged in the 2025 fiscal year, following multiple rounds of layoffs that reduced the total number by at least 6,000 in May and another 9,000 in July.

Q: What role does AI play in Microsoft's future plans?

A: AI is central to Microsoft's future plans, with the company aiming to ensure employees can access AI features in Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot to enhance productivity.

Q: How does Microsoft's approach to AI compare to other tech giants like Amazon?

A: Microsoft and Amazon both recognize the transformative power of AI. While Amazon has been cutting corporate employees, Microsoft is focusing on leveraging AI to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Q: What are the expected benefits of integrating AI into Microsoft's operations?

A: The integration of AI is expected to drive productivity, innovation, and financial growth for Microsoft. It will enable employees to work more efficiently and handle tasks that were previously more labor-intensive. 

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