Microsoft’s HR Overhaul: Firing ‘Low Performers’ While Reinventing Meetings

KEY POINTS

•Amy Coleman became Microsoft Chief People Officer in March 2025 and started a wide HR restructuring.
•Chief Diversity Officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre left on March 31 to seek a new Chief People Officer role elsewhere.
•Microsoft’s HR changes followed firing 2,000 low performers and introducing a three-day return-to-office policy.

In March 2025, Amy Coleman took the helm as Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, amid a self-declared race against ‘outdated decision rhythms’ — a fancy way of saying HR meetings were snoring everyone to death. She immediately started reshuffling for a Microsoft workforce of 220,000 souls, including booting off Chief Diversity Officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre on March 31 so she can ‘take the next step’ (read: probably dodge HR emails at her next gig). The new VP, People & Culture, Leslie Lawson Sims, now carries the Herculean task of accelerating HR while shaping corporate culture — which sounds suspiciously like keeping everyone politely unhappy. This shakeup follows last year’s firing binge of 2,000 self-declared ‘low performers,’ as Microsoft pivoted from hugging its employees to hard-nosed rigor. Meanwhile, veteran executives retire, AI teams merge, and mid-level managers scramble to master new job titles like CVP of Total Rewards — which basically means figuring out how to confuse employees with bonuses that somehow aren’t bonuses. Plus, the ‘three-day return to office policy’ is back — because adapting to change definitely means morning commutes amid global confusion. Did we mention Kathleen Hogan finally escaped to the ‘Office of Strategy and Transformation’? Microsoft’s HR looks less like people care and more like a very elaborate game of musical chairs with sad trombone music.