Davos 2023: Microsoft CEO says tech industry will have to do more with less

Big tech companies will have to get used to becoming more productive with fewer resources, Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Satya Nadella said, as layoffs mount across the tech industry amid economic uncertainty.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Nadella said the tech industry had grown much faster than GDP in recent years but would now need to do more with less.

“We are going to go through a phase today where there is going to be a normalization of demand,” Mr. Nadella said. “We in the tech industry will have to get more efficient–it’s not about everyone else doing more with less, we will have to do more with less. We will have to show our own productivity gains,” he added.

Mr. Nadella’s comments came shortly before Microsoft said it would lay off 10,000 employees, becoming the latest tech titan to announce an additional round of cuts amid concerns about the health of the global economy. Microsoft also said it shed under 1% of its more than 200,000 workforce in July of last year.

Thousands of jobs have already been lost across the tech industry over the last year, with Amazon.com Inc. cutting roughly 18,000 jobs and Salesforce Inc. dismissing 8,000 staff. Wall Street Journal