Microsoft is laying off the Modern Life Experiences team, according to reports of The Verge and Windows Central.
The Modern Life Experiences team was put together in 2018 aiming to "win back consumers."
Around 200 employees of the team were told to seek another position at the company within 60 days, or take severance pay.
Aside From the Lay Off, Microsoft Also Plans to Slow Hiring
The news about the layoff comes weeks after the company laid off less than 1 percent of its 180,000-person workforce, with reduced workforce in consulting, and customer and partner solutions.
Microsoft also made an announcement that it was planning to slow hiring amid a weakening economy.
Windows Central mentioned that the Modern Life Experiences team was dedicated to "bringing consumer products directly to the people who need them... empower(ing) families to learn, explore and connect in a fun and safe environment."
It's unclear how the layoff would affect Microsoft's consumer efforts outside of Xbox and Surface.
CVP Yusef Mehdi stated in 2018 that Microsoft had "lost a little magic with consumers," and that the Modern Life Experiences team would be the one to "begin the journey to win back consumers with our vision."
Despite the cut in the number of employees, Microsoft will keep on selling many of its products to consumers, such as its line of Surface devices and Xbox hardware and services.
The company will also continue to market consumer versions of Microsoft 365, Outlook, Family Safety, and other front-end software and services.
It can be noted that Microsoft also has a consumer version of Teams built into Windows 11, however, since launch, it has seen little success.
Read Also: Microsoft Still in the Smartphone Business Despite Nokia Layoffs?
Microsoft is Working on Strengthening Its Product Subscription
There is no official comments from Microsoft, but in a LinkedIn post, a company's senior designer said that there was "hard news" for the Modern Life Experiences team this week.
The consumer efforts Microsoft are now centered on Windows, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams for consumer, Surface, and Xbox.
Modern Life Experiences team was originally formed in 2018 after the company experienced a rocky phase for its consumer services.
The company officially ended its Groove Music service in 2017. In the same year, if discontinued Kinect and also declared that Windows Phone was dead.
In 2016, the Microsoft Band fitness device also disappeared. The works made with Cortana lost to rivals and Microsoft "switched things up to chase business users instead," according to The Verge.
The company switched its strategies and pivoted its HoloLens hardware towards commercial customers.
Eventually, Microsoft attained success with its Microsoft 365 subscriptions for consumers.
In the recent quarter, the consumer subscription of Microsoft 365 grew by 15 percent, up to 59.7 million. Amid a proliferation in hybrid and remote work, Office consumer increased by 9 percent year over year.
The future of some of Microsoft products is now in the hands of Microsoft's hire last year, Manik Gupta, the former head of product at Uber.
Gupta is behind Microsoft Teams consumer, Skype, and GroupMe. Currently, he's working on building consumer experiences across Microsoft.
Related Article: Microsoft Lays Off 1,850 Employees As It Quits Its Nokia Phone Business Experiment
