CEO says headcount 'will grow with a lot more leverage' than pre-AI
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the tech giant will grow its headcount despite laying off thousands of employees earlier this year.
Nadella made the remarks when he was asked in the BG2 Podcast about whether he thinks the company's workforce will expand as its revenue grows.
"I will say we will grow our headcount, but the way I look at it is that the headcount we grow will grow with a lot more leverage than the headcount we had pre-AI," Nadella said.
Microsoft's headcount remained at 228,000 in the 2025 fiscal year that ended in June.
However, it was later reported in July that it was laying off four per cent of its global workforce, or around 9,000 employees, in a new round of job cuts this year.
AI's workforce impact
The CEO also made the remarks as he noted that employees will get more agency at a task level because of AI. He further pointed out that AI is introducing corporate changes that occurred years ago with the advent of emails and Excel spreadsheets.
"Right now, any planning, any execution starts with AI," he said. "You research with AI, you think with AI... so there's a new artefact being created and a new workflow being created."
Last month, the CEO said in a message to employees that the AI platform shift at Microsoft is also changing the way employees work.
"We're also embracing a new way of working—one that expands job scopes, reduces handoffs, and gives teams tools to scale productivity in nonlinear ways," he said.
"This isn't just about driving efficiency. It's about empowering our people to dream bigger and get to 'job complete' faster, with less friction and greater impact than ever before."
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a major driver in employees' job security concerns, amid worries that the technology will eventually replace them at work.
Some companies, such as Amazon, said they are expecting to reduce the size of their headcount amid AI implementation, and Accenture announced it was cutting 11,000 jobs as it moves to meet demand for digital and AI-driven services.
But there is also research saying AI will likely support workers instead of replacing them. White House AI czar David Sacks previously said AI is going to "make workers more productive."
