Xbox CEO Asha Shama just snagged a role at the US Federal Reserve, and the announcement has sent many heads spinning. Ever since the executive stepped into the CEO role in February this year, attention has been focused on what she can achieve within the role and how she might be able to turn the company’s prospects around. Just days ago, the CEO announced sweeping cuts to Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division, the biggest in its history. The cuts have continued to draw attention towards the organization and its drastic overhaul of talent, which makes her addition to the US Federal Reserve’s task force on Productivity and Jobs a particularly controversial decision for some.
While the Xbox CEO has the necessary qualifications for the position on paper, the decision has been controversial both for her role in the elimination of jobs and the ongoing trend of giving Big Tech greater access to governmental ears that are determining how best to reshape policy and practice.
Just days after layoffs swept across Xbox, CEO Asha Sharma has become a Federal Reserve advisor, raising questions of Big Tech’s influence and controversies around H-1B. (Image: Pexels)
After Proving Her Steel with Xbox Layoffs, CEO Asha Sharma Joins a US Federal Reserve Task Force for Productivity and Jobs
Before we get into why Asha Sharma’s new advisory role is drawing so much attention, it’s important to understand what the new US Federal Reserve task forces are. Led by Chairman Kevin Warsh, the US Federal Reserve established five new advisory groups that were intended to assess the changes occurring within the country and its economy and determine the best approach to monetary policy. “The Federal Reserve’s commitment to price stability and maximum employment is unwavering. As is our resolve to pursue our mandate with rigor,” Chairman Kevin Warsh explained in a press release.
“The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now. Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools, and policy approaches can be improved upon,” he continued. “I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution. The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time.“
What Is the Purpose of These US Federal Reserve Task Forces?
As the Chairman indicates, the task force centers on providing insights and advice to the Federal Open Market Committee. They are designed to operate independently with a pre-set mandate, offering feedback and findings to the department to help reshape its policies.
As part of this shift, the five new task forces center on Communications, Balance Sheet Policy, Data, Productivity and Jobs, and Inflation Frameworks. Each of these US Federal Reserve task forces is to be co-led by external advisors. While the large majority of the names feature professors and economic advisors with years of research and study in their respective fields, it also includes a few current and former business leaders and former central bank practitioners who can lend their insights and diversify the teams.
The task forces feature experts like Jeremy Stein, who is a professor of economics at Harvard University. He was a former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and a member of the finance faculty at M.I.T. ‘s Sloan School of Management. The Inflation Frameworks team similarly boasts Thomas Sargent as co-advisor, a professor of economics at New York University and a Nobel laureate who earned the title in 2011 alongside Christopher Sims for empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.
What Is the “Productivity and Jobs” Task Force That Asha Sharma Will Advise On?
The US Federal Reserve explains that the Productivity and Jobs team will “assess the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, including artificial intelligence, to inform the Federal Reserve’s policy judgments.” It includes Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who has built a successful career at Microsoft, following key roles as VP at Meta and COO at Instacart. Having served as President of Microsoft’s CoreAI division before taking on the Xbox CEO position, she has an impressive track record of working in tech in senior positions that helped reshape the direction of operations.
She will collaborate with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, who has also been known for his controversial statements on Indian colonial history and an unusual approach to AI that has drawn the collective attention of the internet in the past. The team is completed by Charles I. Jones, a professor of economics at Stanford University, who is currently on leave to collaborate with the Anthropic Institute and pursue research on AI and the economic future
Little is known about how the selections were made, the nature of the advisory work the teams will perform, or how frequently they will lend their insights to the reshaping of policy. For now, Asha Sharma appears to be the only member of the task force who is actively involved in external business operations as CEO.
Why Is Asha Sharma’s Assignment on the US Federal Reserve Task Force Proving to Be Controversial?
Asha Sharma is far from the most controversial figure to join the Federal Reserve task forces, and is deserving of some credit for being one of two women of the fifteen elected to advise the institution. The other female voice to feature on the list includes Karen Dynan, a Professor at Harvard University’s Department of Economics and at the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Part of the reason for the attention to Sharma’s inclusion on the Federal Reserve’s advisory board is the addition of an active executive from one of the largest tech companies reshaping the tech space to the federal advisory board. This isn’t an entirely unique circumstance, and we’ve seen greater intrusions such as Musk’s infamous self-insertion in governmental roles and tech CEOs joining summits meant for world leaders, however, the recent announcement shows that this trend is now becoming increasingly normalized.
🇺🇸 The Xbox boss who cut thousands of jobs is now advising the FED on employment and productivity.
Asha Sharma will help guide policy on how AI and new tech affect the economy.
The blending of Big Tech execs into Fed policy is getting real.
Source: @pubity, PC Gamer (outlet) /… pic.twitter.com/81TkmGWhCm
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 10, 2026
The Recent Microsoft Xbox Layoffs Are Still Fresh in People’s Minds
What makes the Xbox CEO’s inclusion particularly controversial is the changes that have been made under her in her few months as the leader of Xbox. The Xbox price hikes earlier in the year irked many gamers, but the recent Xbox layoffs have become a defining moment in her brief stint as CEO. While she has remained communicative throughout the process, informing workers of an upcoming “reset” in advance, the decision has still stung both employees and customers, particularly at a time when the gaming industry is already facing disruption on multiple fronts.
Laying off thousands of people gets you rewarded.
News at 11. https://t.co/TvSkmx4lcg
— Nick Calandra (@nickjcal) July 9, 2026
With the ongoing battle over H-1B visas in the US, the Xbox layoffs have also been criticized with assumptions that American workers are being let go for H-1B jobs. There does not appear to be any credible evidence for this, and any H-1B hiring would likely tie back into Microsoft’s strategies and goals, but many critics appear certain that organizations aren’t firing employees to cut costs or make space for AI investments and efficiencies, but instead doing so to bring in highly skilled workers. The ongoing changes to H-1B regulations make this harder to do, but suspicions remain.
Doge was responsible for firing up to 300,000 American Employees. The people behind it were kids in their teens and early twenties which had no federal work experience. You didn’t care then did you, you regime stooge?
But Asha is Indian so she’s fair game right? https://t.co/VOpvIIVoYy pic.twitter.com/Gs2VMwK7Vx
— Mookjuice (@mookjuice) July 10, 2026
Asha Sharma isn’t solely to blame for the Xbox layoffs, as the cuts were primarily led by Microsoft, which continued its annual trend of layoffs this year, however, she has taken much of the blame for the change. Microsoft is far from the only company to turn to layoffs this year; it isn’t even the one to make the biggest cuts in 2026, but employees and customers are still reeling from the cuts that took place earlier this week. As Xbox employees try to regain their feet, the company may have to address these ongoing controversies or leave employees drawing their own conclusions.
What do you think about the conversation surrounding the appointment of Asha Sharma to the Federal Reserve advisory board? Share your thoughts with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
