Home
Apps
Apps News
Microsoft to Shut Down Skype's London Office

Microsoft to Shut Down Skype's London Office

By Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: 19 September 2016 09:59 IST

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Technology giant Microsoft is planning to close its London office of Skype and to lay off most of the nearly 400 people employed there, a media report here said.

"Microsoft made the decision to unify some engineering positions, potentially putting at risk a number of globally focused Skype and Yammer roles," the Financial Times quoted Microsoft as saying.

Microsoft Discussion

Explore More...

Skype will still maintain offices throughout the world, including in Redmond, Palo Alto, Vancouver, and several locations in Europe.

But the layoffs indicate a shift in priorities, with anonymous former employees telling media that Microsoft has increasingly been taking control of Skype, replacing Skype's employees with its own.

Skype was one of the first big voice chatting apps, but it's increasingly come under threat from basically all sides.

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, among others, offer the same features and have enormous user bases. Meanwhile, business tools like Slack are beginning to build in the features, like video chatting, that people have traditionally gone to Skype for.

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Microsoft, Skype, Apps, Layoffs

Mobileye Says It Warned Tesla Against Enabling 'Hands-Free' Driving

Microsoft to Shut Down Skype's London Office

Related Stories