Microsoft is shutting down its operations in Pakistan ending its 25-year presence in the South Asian nation.

The Redmond-based company informed that it would alter its operational model in Pakistan in a strategic shift to a partner-led model.

It will now provide its services to customers through resellers and “other closely located Microsoft offices.”

“This change will not affect our customer agreements or service,” stated a Microsoft spokesperson in an email.

“We have implemented this model with success in numerous other countries worldwide.”

“Our customers are our primary concern and can anticipate the same exceptional level of service in the future,” the spokesperson noted.

According to sources who spoke with TechCrunch, the decision will affect five Microsoft employees in Pakistan.

They also noted that Microsoft did not have any engineering resources in Pakistan, in contrast to India and other emerging markets, and had its employees sell Azure and Office products in the country.

The closure occurs in the context of a more extensive restructuring of the organization.

The Redmond company’s exodus was characterized by Pakistan’s Ministry of IT and Telecommunication as “part of a broader workforce-optimization program.”

The company has reduced its workforce by 4%, which equates to approximately 9,000 positions worldwide, earlier this week.

According to the ministry, Microsoft has relocated the licensing and commercial contract administration for Pakistan to its European center in Ireland in recent years to prepare for this transition.

Meanwhile, certified local partners have been responsible for the day-to-day delivery of services.

“We will persist in our efforts to engage Microsoft’s regional and global leadership to guarantee that any structural modifications strengthen, rather than weaken, Microsoft’s long-term dedication to Pakistani customers, developers, and channel partners,” the ministry stated.

On Thursday, Jawwad Rehman, the organization’s initial leader in Pakistan and a former Microsoft executive, disclosed the organization’s departure in a LinkedIn post.

“This is not merely a corporate departure.” It is a sobering reminder of the unsustainable environment our nation has established, an environment in which even global titans such as Microsoft are unable to remain.

Rehman also commented on the ensuing team and regional management of Microsoft’s actions regarding the robust foundation that we established.

Pakistan’s federal government proclaimed its intention to offer IT certifications from technology companies such as Microsoft and Google to half a million young people just days prior to the exit.

Google, which disclosed a $10.5 million investment in the public education sector of the country last year and is also contemplating Pakistan as a market to produce half a million Chromebooks by 2026, is particularly contrasted by this action.

The retreat of Microsoft is indicative of the more extensive obstacles facing Pakistan’s technology sector.

Pakistan has not yet become a significant engineering outsourcing destination for Western tech titans, in contrast to India and other regional markets.

Rather, the country’s technology ecosystem is primarily dominated by two primary players: local companies that have established their own engineering capabilities and Chinese firms such as Huawei, which have acquired a substantial market share by offering enterprise-grade infrastructure to telecommunications companies and banks.