According to the well-known anonymous workplace community Teamblind, Microsoft plans to lay off 10000 to 15000 employees in January 2025. Once this news was released, it immediately attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society. If the layoff plan is confirmed, it will not only have a significant impact on Microsoft itself, but also affect the entire technology industry.

According to insiders, Microsoft's compensation plan for this round of layoffs may follow the old practice of the "N+2" model.

At present, the specific departments involved in the layoff plan and whether it covers the China region are not yet clear. This has increased speculation from the outside world about Microsoft's future strategic adjustments. Layoffs are usually related to a company's business restructuring, cost reduction, or strategic transformation, and Microsoft's move may indicate significant adjustments in certain business areas.

It is worth noting that as a tech giant with years of experience in the healthcare industry, Microsoft has recently announced a series of significant measures targeting the healthcare sector. So, if this layoff is true, will it affect its layout in the medical field?

01. Microsoft may lay off 15000 employees
According to previous media reports, Microsoft has invested up to $19 billion in cash capital expenditures on devices related to artificial intelligence, primarily for cloud computing and AI related needs.

Despite investing such a huge amount of funds, it has not yet achieved the expected returns from the artificial intelligence track, so many speculate that this may be the reason why Microsoft needs to carry out large-scale layoffs again.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Microsoft has carried out layoffs. At the end of the 2024 fiscal year, Microsoft China has laid off approximately 80 employees in its Enterprise Commercial department, accounting for about 10% of the total sales team.

In addition, on January 25, 2024, Microsoft also laid off 1900 employees from Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax teams, accounting for approximately 8% of the total workforce in Microsoft's gaming division.

If Microsoft's layoff plan is implemented, it will have a chain reaction on the technology industry. At present, Microsoft's layoff plan has not been officially confirmed, but its potential impact cannot be ignored. In today's rapidly changing technology industry, especially with the rapid penetration of AI capabilities in various industries, how to balance innovation and cost, and how to maintain employee interests and corporate competitiveness, is a challenge that every technology giant must face.

02. Microsoft multi-dimensional layout in the healthcare industry, promoting innovation and change
In fact, in recent years, Microsoft has continued to deepen its cultivation in the healthcare industry, demonstrating its high attention and long-term planning in this field through a series of strategic layouts.

The industry believes that Microsoft's comprehensive layout in the healthcare industry has continuously promoted medical technology innovation and industry change, and is expected to bring more positive impacts and breakthroughs to the global healthcare industry in the future.

Acquisition and Cooperation
Microsoft has been making frequent acquisitions, acquiring Nuance, a provider of conversational artificial intelligence and environmental clinical intelligence, for $19.7 billion in 2022. Nuance's many technologies and products, such as clinical document solutions, professional medical team solutions, and intelligent customer engagement and secure biometric solutions, have been widely used in many hospitals in the United States. This acquisition allows Microsoft to penetrate the healthcare vertical market and deeply integrate Nuance technology with its own cloud services and AI capabilities, greatly enhancing its influence in the AI healthcare field.

After the acquisition, Microsoft and Stanford University School of Medicine jointly deployed Nuance Dragon Environmental eXperience Copilot (DAX Copilot) to help clinical doctors simplify workflows and improve medical service efficiency. This technology has been applied in multiple fields such as clinical nursing, medical imaging, and multiple medical institutions.

Cloud computing and data analysis services
In terms of cloud computing and data analysis services, Microsoft launched Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare in 2019, which customizes exclusive services and functions for healthcare customers. It has achieved significant results in data management, response speed improvement, quality assurance, and operational efficiency optimization. At the same time, it strengthens local architecture, improves clinical and operational analysis, and promotes doctor-patient interaction and collaboration through cloud services.

In addition, the tools created by Microsoft for Azure services can use powerful computing resources for precise medical gene analysis, meeting the "cloud" needs of pharmaceutical companies and helping them comply with privacy regulations. They also provide support for large-scale data processing in medical institutions, promoting the improvement of medical service quality and operational efficiency, and optimizing clinical decision-making.

Application of AI technology
In terms of AI technology applications, Microsoft will launch a medical intelligent agent service for Copilot Studio in 2024, which facilitates the development of generative artificial intelligence agents for patients or doctors by medical institutions. The application scenarios are wide, and the functions can be expanded through plugins. At the same time, Microsoft has launched a clinical safety API and opened a private preview to ensure the accuracy and reliability of medical data and generative AI applications, laying a solid security line for the digital transformation of healthcare.

The Azure AI model family continues to grow, with models such as MedImageInsight, MedImageParse, CXRReortGen playing important roles in medical image content analysis, different types of image analysis, and chest X-ray image examination, improving the efficiency and accuracy of medical image diagnosis.

Medical equipment and technology research and development
Microsoft is also actively exploring the research and development of medical devices and technologies, and its HoloLens mixed reality technology has achieved fruitful results in the medical field. Taking Weizhuo Zhiyuan Medical Technology as an example, clinical medical, teaching, and research solutions developed based on HoloLens have been applied in more than 100 tertiary hospitals across the country. They have made precise efforts in surgical plan formulation, doctor-patient communication, intraoperative navigation assistance, and other aspects, effectively improving medical accuracy and teaching and communication efficiency.

Health Information Management and Monitoring
In the field of health information management and monitoring, Microsoft launched Microsoft Health in 2014 as a cloud based health information management service application, which can help users monitor multidimensional health data such as heart rate, steps, sleep, etc. It not only facilitates personal health management, but also opens up channels for medical institutions to collect and analyze patients' daily health data.

Ecological construction of the medical industry
In addition, Microsoft focuses on the construction of the medical industry ecosystem. As early as 2014, it collaborated with medical technology company Becton Dickinson (BD) to establish a medical technology entrepreneurship incubator, which has successfully incubated more than ten medical technology startups and injected a continuous stream of momentum into the innovative development of the medical industry.

Source: http://qixieke.com/Font/index/detailPage.html?id=3293-19