Microsoft will be gradually cutting the number of its offices in Russia, RBC wrote referring to the industry sources.

According to the magazine's interlocutor, in the near future the number of Microsoft employees in Russia may go down by 15%. The company has been carrying out planned reductions since 2014 - during this time the Russian staff has decreased from 1 thousand to 300 people.

Sources explain the reduction of Microsoft's Russian offices in 2013-2017 by changes in the company's strategy, optimization of the business model and the transition to cloud solutions. Then 10-15% of the staff were reduced. In 2017-2019, the company cut about 15% more staff due to the optimization of the business structure, mainly from the support departments - sales, marketing, service.

The staff cuts can also be linked to the import substitution policy, experts say. Due to falling sales, the company has transformed its regional policy and closed a number of regional offices.

According to early available SPARK data cited in the publication, the average headcount of Microsoft Rus in 2016 was 501-1000 people. In 2020, it dropped to 392.

The Microsoft office in Russia noted that "the company has not had any large-scale layoffs recently." "Microsoft and its Russian offices continue to work as usual," the newspaper's interlocutor said.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Karina Kamalova