Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would eliminate up to 18,000 jobs over the next year as part of a major restructuring.þþPreviously, the largest layoffs at the company were in 2009, when about 5,800 people were affected amid the recession.þþThe company’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, signaled in a company memorandum last week that big organizational changes were coming soon.þþOver the next year, Microsoft, which has 125,000 employees, expects to take pretax charges of $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion.þþThe restructuring plan is intended to simplify its organization and align Nokia’s mobile unit into the company’s overall strategy. At the end of April, 25,000 new employees joined Microsoft with the completion of its acquisition of the division.þþLarge layoffs are a rarity at Microsoft. Since its 2009 staff reduction, Microsoft has had a few more rounds of cuts, but the number of employees let go were typically in the dozens or hundreds.þþIn February, Mr. Nadella became the third chief of Microsoft as Steven A. Ballmer stepped down, and Bill Gates, a company founder, left his role as chairman and become a technology adviser to Mr. Nadella.
Source: NY Times
