A Microsoft employee has drawn criticism for sharing a widely-ridiculed AI image to advertise empty roles on Xbox's graphics team.
The image, which features a woman sat at a computer typing code — shown on the rear of the monitor, rather than its screen — is clearly made by AI. Accompanying text states: "Xbox Graphics Is Hiring".
Reaction to the post, which went live on LinkedIn over the weekend and is still available at the time of writing, is a mixture of bafflement and outright anger — with many responses criticising the "embarrassing" quality of the image, and the timing of the post, just weeks after mass layoffs at Xbox as Microsoft doubles down on AI.
"The Xbox Graphics team is hiring folks with experience with device drivers, GPU performance, or related validation or engineering system experience," a Principal Development Lead on the Xbox Graphics team wrote, sharing two Senior Software Engineer jobs based at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters.
While seemingly not an official post by Microsoft itself — and instead, it appears, the work of this individual employee — the post has generated more than 100 replies, nearly all heavily critical of the job ad.
"Do you think this image communicates 'this is a company where we value people who can make stuff look good?'," wrote a fellow Microsoft staff member.
"Posting this days after MS laid off 9,000 folks in gamedev, while including an AI-generated image wherein the monitor is backwards... like, dude, read the room," wrote an employee at Meta.
"This s**t is just embarrassing. AI gutter-slop image (THE SCREEN IS ON THE BACK OF THE MONITOR) to advertise a *graphics* post," wrote a Ubisoft employee. "Do. F**king. Better."
A handful of other responses simply laughed off the image, however, with one even suggesting the image was posted on purpose — to show why good hires were needed.
IGN has contacted the post's author, who is yet to respond to any of the comments.
Microsoft announced plans to shed nearly 4% of its staff, or roughly 9,100 employees, earlier this month, with deep cuts to several major Xbox studios. Rare's long-gestating fantasy project Everwild was canned, as was the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot from Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics and Microsoft outfit The Initiative — which was shut down completely. Other projects impacted include a promising new role-player from Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Online team, and Romero Studios' new first-person shooter. This latest round of layoffs is the fourth to hit Microsoft's gaming business in 18 months.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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