Xbox CEO Asha Shar's Layoff Memo Goes Viral As Microsoft Cuts 4800 Jobs: 'I Know This Is Painful'

Last Updated:July 07, 2026, 11:52 IST

The memo acknowledged the 'painful' decision behind Xbox's biggest restructuring ever, but social media users questioned the absence of concrete support for affected employees

Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs has put the spotlight not just on the scale of the job cuts, but also on how companies communicate them.

After Microsoft announced it would cut around 4,800 jobs globally—including 3,200 roles across Xbox—Xbox CEO Asha Shar shared the internal email she sent to employees on X, making the message public.

Calling it the “most significant restructure in XBOX history," Shar wrote: “I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX… Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication."

She argued that the company had reached a point where a reset was unavoidable. “Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3–10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses." Shar said Xbox had expanded aggressively over the past few years, betting on Game Pass, acquisitions and a broader content portfolio, but admitted those businesses “did not grow at the pace we expected."

She also outlined sweeping structural changes, including spinning off four studios, flattening management, cutting vendor spending by 50%, and creating a new Chief Operating Officer role. Despite the cuts, she insisted: “These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one."

The email ended on an optimistic note: “History is full of companies that mistake longevity for inevitability. We will not be one of them."

Internet Reacts To XBOX Layoffs

While some appreciated the unusually detailed explanation behind the layoffs, many online were unconvinced—arguing the memo focused heavily on business strategy but not enough on the thousands of employees losing their livelihoods.

One of the responses read: “Your email sounds evil. Do you know why? Because you talk about firing thousands of people, but you don’t talk about whether they will be cared for or not…"

However, it wasn’t the business rationale that grabbed social media’s attention—it was what many felt the email left unsaid. One widely shared response read: “Your email sounds evil. Do you know why? Because you talk about firing thousands of people, but you don’t talk about whether they will be cared for or not. Like what happens to them? You just spontaneously cutting them in one day? Those are households… you need to lead with compassion on this and not leave these people out in the cold and tell the public how they will be compensated."

Others shifted the conversation toward Xbox’s products rather than its workforce. One user wrote: “As an XBOX X owner, the UI experience is painful. Hard to believe how challenging it is to simply login, navigate between users, change settings, and just use the basic system before entering a game. You guys should start with a total redesign of the UI."

Another argued that the restructuring would only succeed with broader changes: “This is good. But for it to work, you must also change your company policies to stop driving away your core audiences, and you must do so visibly and clearly."

Some users were openly sarcastic. “The best way to ensure success is to fire the people responsible for getting us this far and hire/promote a bunch of people that have no clue about how to make a successful product. This is the way."

Others saw the shake-up as an opportunity. “I’ll gladly buy an Xbox for first time after 20+ years if you’re willing to give us the option to still purchase physical media… This is Xbox’s chance to win over so many PlayStation users with one simple decision."

Not everyone was convinced the overhaul would help the gaming platform.

One emotional response read: “Please stop what you are doing. Xbox has been so much fun for years and now you come in firing the staff and pushing out game studios that give us awesome games… You are a despicable person."

About the Author

Mallika BhagatDeputy News Editor

Mallika Bhagat is a Deputy News Editor at News18, where she leads the Lifestyle and Viral desks. A seasoned journalist and content strategist, she brings a decade of high-impact experience from India’...Read More

News viral Xbox CEO Asha Shar's Layoff Memo Goes Viral As Microsoft Cuts 4800 Jobs: 'I Know This Is Painful'

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