Microsoft is reportedly close to announcing a major round of job cuts in what may turn out to be the biggest cull in its history. The computer giant could reveal details of the job losses this week, people with knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg. The last time Microsoft laid off workers in any great number was in 2009 when 5,800 were shown the door. However, it’s thought that the company could be planning to reduce its workforce by an by an even great number this time around. The expected restructuring comes as the company moves ahead with the full integration of Nokia, the Finnish mobile company acquired by Microsoft for $7.2 billion in September last year. While some positions may be lost within Nokia and related areas, Bloomberg’s unnamed sources also suggested that marketing and engineering departments will also be hit. According to official data, Microsoft had 127,104 employees as of last month, with this figure including 30,000 or so Nokia workers.
Microsoft Corp. is planning its biggest round of job cuts in five years, as the software maker looks to slim down and integrate Nokia Oyj’s handset unit, people with knowledge of the company’s plans said. The reductions — which may be unveiled as soon as this week — will probably be in areas such as Nokia and divisions of Microsoft that overlap with that business, as well as marketing and engineering, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The restructuring may end up being the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 jobs cut in 2009, two of the people said. Some details are still being worked out, two of the people said. The announcement would come one week after Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella issued his first company mission statement, calling for greater emphasis on mobile devices, cloud-computing and productivity software. In the July 10 memo, which also called for Microsoft to become more focused and efficient, Nadella, who took over from Steve Ballmer in February, said he would provide more specifics on implementation later this month. While Microsoft has undergone smaller, intermittent job cuts in individual businesses — for example trimming a few hundred positions in advertising sales and marketing in 2012 and some marketing jobs across the company earlier that same year — the company has only undertaken a companywide restructuring impacting thousands of workers once before, in 2009 at the start of the recession. Over the course of that year, the company cut 5,800 jobs, or about 5 percent of its workforce at the time.
