There was plenty of news coverage of the Windows test team being eliminated at the time of Microsoft's 2014 layoffs: "Under the new structure, a number of Wind

There was plenty of news coverage of the Windows test team being eliminated at the time of Microsoft's 2014 layoffs: "Under the new structure, a number of Windows engineers, primarily dedicated testers, will no longer be needed. (I don't know exactly how many testers will be laid off, but hearing it could be a "good chunk," from sources close to the company.) Instead, program managers and development engineers will be taking on new responsibilities, such as testing hypotheses..." https://www.zdnet.com/article/beyond-12500-former-nokia-employees-who-else-is-microsoft-laying-off/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/beyond-12500-former-nokia-empl... There were also a lot of insider comments from affected SDETs on the notorious (at the time) Mini-Microsoft blog as well: https://minimsft.blogspot.com/2014/07/18000-microsoft-jobs-gone-eventually.html https://minimsft.blogspot.com/2014/07/18000-microsoft-jobs-g... The burden of testing software was shifted over to developers after the layoffs. If you check Microsoft's job listings, there isn't even a category for software testing positions anymore.