Software giant Microsoft has no plans to lay off employees in its India operations, senior company officials have said amid reports that the company is cutting a small percentage of jobs across departments globally.

“No, not in India,” Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, told businessline when asked about the reports of job cuts.

“We are engaged in so many projects. In fact, for all of India, more jobs are being created,” Chandok added.

There have been reports of the company cutting a small percentage (less than 1 per cent) of jobs across departments globally, based on performance. The company has around 20,000 employees in India, out of a total of 2,28,000 people worldwide.

• Also read: India is becoming an AI powerhouse: Microsoft’s Puneet Chandok

Microsoft’s latest job cuts are lower compared to past downsizing exercises. The company laid off 10,000 employees in early 2023. In January 2024, the company’s gaming unit shed 1,900 jobs to reduce overlap, just three months after completing the $75.4 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition.

The news of job cuts started doing the rounds during the recent two-day visit to India by Satya Nadella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. Nadella announced his company’s $3 billion investment plans for cloud and AI infrastructure over the next two years.

“India is rapidly becoming a leader in AI innovation, unlocking new opportunities across the country,” Nadella had said, adding that the investments in infrastructure and skilling that he announced reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to making India AI-first.

He said the company aims to build a thriving AI ecosystem in India by supporting the government and industry in fostering AI innovation and enhancing productivity, efficiency, and accessibility.

For the same purpose, Microsoft tied up with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the IndiaAI Mission and also announced partnerships with companies like RailTel, Apollo Hospitals, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra Group, and upGrad to accelerate AI-driven transformations in India.

“We will continue to use AI to unlock possibilities for the next few decades and ensure that communities across the country have access to the compute they need to prosper in the AI era,” Chandok added.

In 2023, not only Microsoft but other tech giants such as Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Accenture, and Dell also announced job cuts of 10,000, 27,000, 19,000, and 6,650, respectively.