Microsoft has said it will offer voluntary buyouts to eligible employees in select parts of the company. CNBC reports the offer will reach about 60,000 staff, roughly a quarter of the global workforce. The company describes it as a chance for employees already considering moving on from Microsoft. The offer extends to qualifying staff in the United States, India, Canada and the United Kingdom. It follows a voluntary retirement package offered in April and Xbox layoffs in July, with about 30 percent of eligible staff accepting the earlier offer.
Electronic Arts is closing BioWare and cancelling a new Mass Effect game. The studio announced its shutdown on social media, following a Bloomberg report that EA is laying off 400 people, including 50 at BioWare. BioWare is known for titles like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The studio's latest games received mixed reviews, and its attempt at a multiplayer shooter, Anthem, failed to attract a loyal audience.
Netflix has reported third-quarter profit above Wall Street's expectations, but its shares fell after it lowered its advertising sales guidance. The streaming company earned $US3.66 billion, or 87 cents per share, for the July to September period, up 44 per cent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 per cent to $US12.87 billion. Netflix also announced plans to cut about six per cent of its workforce and replace its chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, with Peter Rice. Shares fell 4.1 per cent after hours.
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Netflix will reduce its workforce by six per cent, affecting around 1000 employees, as part of broader organisational restructuring. The streaming service's co-CEOs, Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, revealed the cuts in an internal memo, targeting product, tech, legal and HR teams. While maintaining strong business performance, the company aims to prioritise resources for future growth. Despite recent profit increases, Netflix's third-quarter forecast fell short of market expectations. The layoffs represent the largest workforce reduction in years for the California-based firm.
The Center for Humane Technology is laying off about half of its 16 non-founder employees. The organisation will end its policy research and litigation work to focus on founder-led projects. The nine departures include executive director Julie Guirado and senior director of strategy Camille Carlton. The organisation's board determined that operating as both an advocacy group and a think tank had stretched it too thin.
