Amid ongoing tech layoffs and geopolitical tension, rumors swirled that Microsoft would exit China in 2025 and cut around 2,000 jobs, based on a leaked internal email. But according to ijiwei and YiCai Global, the message came from Wicresoft—Microsoft’s outsourcing partner in Shanghai—not Microsoft itself.
The reports note that Microsoft China quickly shot down the rumor, calling the information false.
As per the reports, on the morning of April 7, a screenshot of an internal email began circulating online, claiming that “due to geopolitical shifts and changes in the global business landscape, Microsoft will cease operations in China starting April 8, 2025.”
However, the reports clarify that Microsoft isn’t pulling out of China, and the email came from Wicresoft—a Microsoft JV—and refers to outsourced projects which are now being relocated elsewhere.
Wicresoft’s Background
As highlighted by Caijing, the outsourcing firm—co-founded by a former Microsoft China president—handles some Microsoft projects but isn’t solely tied to the tech giant.
Wicresoft employees told Caijing that the cuts mainly hit China-based teams working on Microsoft accounts, affecting about 2,000 people. The report also suggests that Wicresoft has teams in China, Japan, Hungary, and Vietnam handling Microsoft outsourcing projects.
The ijiwei report indicates that Wicresoft, founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Microsoft and the Shanghai government, is a global digital transformation service provider. Headquartered in Shanghai, it runs 36 delivery centers across China, the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with over 10,000 employees from 74 countries, the report adds.
Microsoft’s Latest Moves
Though the layoff this time is not directly linked to Microsoft, the tech titan has already signaled a 1% workforce cut globally, as per CNBC.
Notably, it is quietly scaling back in China in recent years. The Wall Street Journal noted that in 2024, Microsoft urged China-based cloud and AI staff to consider relocating amid U.S. tech restrictions on Beijing. Around 700–800 employees working in machine learning and cloud computing reportedly received the offer.
Following that, Microsoft has shut down its IoT & AI Insider Lab in Shanghai’s hi-tech zone in January or February, with its equipment and offices evacuated, as per South China Morning Post.
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(Photo credit: Microsoft)
