Workforce Reduction at Microsoft

Microsoft has confirmed another 2,100 redundancies as part of a plan to cut 18,000 jobs, some 14% of its workforce.

The software giant said 747 jobs will go in the Seattle area, with the rest spread across its global operations.

Microsoft had already cut 13,000 jobs, with the bulk at the Nokia phone division bought by the US company.

In July, chief executive Satya Nadella announced radical plans to move Microsoft away from software to online services, apps and devices.

Microsoft, which has about 127,000 people on its payroll, will take a charge of between $1.1bn (£672m) and $1.6bn for costs related to the cuts.

Microsoft said in a statement that the latest cuts "are spread across many different business units, and many different countries".

In an email to staff in July, Mr Nadella said that the "difficult but necessary" cuts are part of a plan to bring a new direction to the technology company.

"The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce," he said.

Microsoft completed its takeover of Nokia's phone division in April in a move that strengthened its position in mobile devices. The cost was around $7.5bn.

Satya Nadella has only held the reins at Microsoft for five months, but the Nietzsche-quoting chief executive is determined to shake-up the once dominant firm.

Microsoft's operating systems, which used to be the outright leader in personal computing, are now only used on 14% of devices, if you take into account smartphones and tablets.

Nokia Oyj is a Finnish communications and information technology multinational corporation that is headquartered in Espoo, Uusimaa, in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area.

In September 2013, Nokia sold what was once the world's largest vendor of mobile phones to Microsoft as part of an overall deal totaling €5.44 billion (US$7.17 billion).

Note:  During my 45 year career in the business world, I have seen this time and time again because when companies acquire other companies they do so at great expense and these companies need to sell off divisions or layoff people in order to finance this new debt.  Acquisition decisions are usually made to increase shareholder wealth which typically overrides  any compassion for the workers as they are expendable commodities.