Microsoft Corporation Cuts 2,100 Jobs Around The World

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) did a second round of layoffs on Thursday, cutting 2,100 jobs worldwide. About 747 of these jobs were from the Seattle area. Last July, the company laid of 13,000 employees and an additonal 2,900 jobs will be cut within a year.

The previous wave affected a big portion of Nokia employees. Microsoft previously acquired the Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) phone and services business, unfortunately the acquisition has not been much a success. The Nokia layoffs included both professionals and factory workers. Previous reports cite the main reason for July’s job cuts was to reduce redundancies as well as eliminate the engineers who are not developers.

A look back at earlier layoffs

In early July, Microsoft’s chief executive officer Satya Nadella released a memo discussing fiscal 2015 priorities and in it he hinted about changes that could occur as a result of priority shifts.

A representative for Microsoft spoke in regards of today’s mass layoff, “The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries. We will continue to go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals and recognition of their service to the company.”

Microsoft’s need to stay relevant

The affected employees will receive severance pay. Right now, Microsoft is going through some significant changes as it transforms from a tech company that specializes in operating systems to a company that specializes in cloud services. Microsoft used to be the leader in computer operating system technologies but the huge growth in smartphone sales show the company is no longer in the lead. Many people opt to access the internet on their phones or tablets instead of the laptops or desktops. If this trend continues to accelerate as predicted, the need for traditional computer operating systems will continue to diminish. It is necessary for Microsoft to update company goals and make changes.

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