Microsoft confirms Workplace and Home windows hiring slowdown in newest signal of financial warning

Microsoft will get more cautious about hiring in its Windows and Office divisions, including its Microsoft Teams group, in the latest sign of companies reassessing their growth plans in response to economic uncertainty.

The company confirmed a Bloomberg News report Thursday morning saying that all new hires in the groups will need to be approved by Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Experiences and Devices Group, and his leadership team. Microsoft told Bloomberg that the slowdown is not companywide.

“As Microsoft gets ready for the new fiscal year, it is making sure the right resources are aligned to the right opportunity,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire. “Microsoft will continue to grow headcount in the year ahead and it will add additional focus to where those resources go.”

Microsoft’s fiscal 2023 begins July 1. It’s common for the company to make changes across different parts of its business in the weeks leading up to the new fiscal year.

Companies including Meta and Salesforce have similarly slowed hiring in recent weeks. High-tech real estate brokerage Redfin instituted a hiring freeze and rescinded what it described as a small number of job offers.

Microsoft last week announced salary and stock compensation changes focused heavily on retaining employees who might have otherwise been tempted to look elsewhere.