Microsoft Corp.'s top sales executive is planning to take a two-month sabbatical, a move that coincides with an expected wave of terminations targeting his organisation.

Microsoft is laying off thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years.

An Xbox spokesperson declined to confirm how many people were impacted, but the cuts were widespread and significant. Subsidiaries across the gaming organization were told that they would be affected by the layoffs.