Techrights

Expecting Mass Layoffs, More Microsoft Workers Join Unions

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 13, 2025

Days ago: The "Cut 10,000 Jobs" Clickbait and Microsoft Sites Now Speculating That Microsoft CEO Has Just Signalled More Mass Layoffs

Press reports from the past 10 (or so) hours [1,2] tell us that Microsoft layoffs and expectation of a lot more cause unions to swell; "in response to mass Xbox layoffs" people "vote to unionize".

Whether that will help them dodge the axe is another matter. It's just noteworthy they see tough times ahead. 2 days ago we published: Those of Us Who Grew Up Playing Doom Must Remember What Microsoft Did to Its Creator █

Related/contextual items from the news:

• 1

id Software workers form wall-to-wall union in response to mass Xbox layoffs

Another Microsoft-owned game studio unionized today. This one was Doom: The Dark Ages developer id Software, which has spent the last decade purely dedicated to letting players rip and tear through the legions of hell. But the Doom Slayer has turned his gaze to another foe: the exploitation of labor and unfair extraction of wealth.

• 2

DOOM creators at id Software vote to unionize

More of Microsoft's video game developers are unionizing, this time with id Software in Texas. According to a new press release from the CWA union organization, 165 of id Software's Texas-based employees seek union representation.The id Software teams join other wall-to-wall unions at other Microsoft-owned game divisions like Blizzard, whose various teams working on Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone have all voted to unionize in an attempt to secure better protections against layoffs, crunch work, and generative artificial intelligence--technology that Microsoft has significantly advanced with its MUSE generator.