Company Briefs

Microsoft to lay off 3% of workforceMicrosoft is laying off some 3% of its workforce, or around 6 000 employees, as the technology giant looks to rein in costs while funnelling billions of dollars into its ambitious bet on artificial intelligence.The cuts will be across all levels and geographies and are likely the largest since Microsoft laid off 10 000 employees in 2023. The company let a small number of staff go in January over performance-related issues, but the new cuts are not related to that, according to CNBC, which first reported the news.Big Tech has been spending heavily on AI as they see the new technology as a major growth engine, while slashing costs elsewhere to safeguard profit margins. Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year, as it looks to control costs and prioritise AI, media reports have said.“We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesman said via e-mail.The company, which had 228 000 workers as of June last year, regularly uses layoffs to prioritise staffing in its main focus areas.Tuesday’s move comes weeks after Microsoft posted stronger-than-expected growth in its cloud computing business, Azure, and blowout results in the latest quarter, calming investor worries in an uncertain economy.-TECHCENTRAL IMF cuts Angola's 2025 growth forecast to 2.4% on emerging risksThe International Monetary Fund has cut Angola's preliminary growth outlook for 2025 to 2.4% from an initial 3%, it said after an assessment mission to Luanda, citing lower prices of oil and tightening external financing conditions.The Southern African oil exporter had to pay $200 million as extra security for a $1 billion loan from JPMorgan during the height of the selloff of risky assets last month, exposing the challenges faced by small, open African economies."This downward revision to the outlook also poses risks to fiscal performance," the Fund said in a statement, adding that the findings will be discussed by its board in July.The team, was however, reassured by the government's determination to contain emerging risks, and to put in place mitigating measures, it said in a statement late on Tuesday.The IMF officials were on a mission known as Post Financing Assessment, which is reserved for nations with outstanding credit above their quotas that do not have an IMF-supported programme or a staff-monitored programme.The Fund sent a separate statement saying its head of Africa department, Abebe Aemro Selassie, had met with Angola's President Joao Lourenco in Luanda, to discuss the situation.-REUTERS Google unleashes big Android redesignGoogle has unveiled the biggest update to its Android mobile operating system in years, weeks before its biggest competitor in the space, Apple, is expected to give a preview of its overhauled iPhone software.The company is rolling out a new, bolder design language — called Material 3 Expressive — that spans the entire Android operating system as well as Google’s own apps like Gmail, it said in a blog post on Tuesday. The company has compiled a set of design guidelines, which includes using more springy animations, shapes, contrast and larger typography.It plans to showcase the upgrades in further detail at its Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, starting 20 May. The software will be available to download in its final form later this year, starting with Google’s own line of Pixel phones.Android is the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, powering devices by companies from Samsung Electronics to Xiaomi. Google’s aim was to make the experience feel more natural and fluid with more room for personalisation, it said. The company iterated through 46 research studies with more than 18 000 participants to devise the changes — which it says help make the software more usable, too, especially for older users.-TECHCENTRAL

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