Microsoft is reportedly advising some of its employees in China to consider moving to other countries amid geopolitical tensions sparked by the battle between the United States and China over advanced technologies.
a report of The Wall Street Journal claims the company is asking between 700 and 800 of its China-based workers involved in machine learning and cloud computing to consider moving to countries such as the US, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Citing an anonymous source familiar with the case, the WSJ reported that affected workers have been given until early June to commit to moving, however it also appears that workers may also choose to stay in China.
Microsoft removes workers from China
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Reuters: “Providing internal opportunities is a regular part of managing our global business. As part of this process, we share an optional internal transfer opportunity with a subset of employees.”
The move comes amid US efforts to limit China's access to advanced artificial intelligence chips, which Washington worries could help boost Beijing's military capabilities. The Biden Administration has imposed several restrictions on the country, including limiting and increasing tariffs on certain imports and exports.
Microsoft has a significant presence in China, including its Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group, which employs more than 6,000 scientists and engineers in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, as well as Taiwan's Taipei and Tokyo of Japan.
Maintaining peace between China and the United States is not the only challenge facing Microsoft: the Redmond giant continues to make changes to operational efficiency despite being the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion. Dollars.
At the beginning of the year, it laid off about 1,900 workers from Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax, representing about 8% of its player workforce.
TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft to confirm details of its plans to move workers out of China, but we did not receive an immediate response.
