Microsoft will be laying off 18,000 employees over the next one year most of whom are those who joined the company from its recent acquisition, Nokia.
The bad news were announced by Executive Vice President Stephen Elop and Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella in separate emails to employees that have sparked mixed reactions. The process of notifying those certain to leave commences today with Microsoft employees in the United States expected to be the first to be notified about their pending exit. Of the 18,000, 12,500 are Microsoft’s employees working in its various factories and as professionals in various fields.
Nadella says that 13,000 positions are already being actively downsized in the first wave, with a “vast majority” of those to be affected receiving notice over the next six months. More information will come from senior leaders to their teams later today, Nadella says in the note.
Nokia looks poised to take the big hit in this round of layoffs – Microsoft brought on around 25,000 of the Finnish company’s employees when it acquired the company’s devices and services division. “Work toward synergies and strategic alignment on Nokia Devices and Services is expected to account for 12,500 jobs,” says Nadella in the note, which could indicate that as many as half of the Nokia people are on their way out, though it’s likely that some existing Microsoft positions will be reduced to make room for incoming Nokia talent, too.
By comparison, Google laid off around 6,000 employees from Motorola as it worked to incorporate that company’s hardware team with its own organization before selling the unit to Lenovo late last year.
The cuts will include “fewer layers of management” and a flatter organization, according to Nadella’s note today, and they will also include rolling Nokia’s device’s teams into MS, which includes axing the current Nokia X Android-based designs in favor of building low-cost Lumia hardware running Windows Phone. Employees affected will receive severance, as well as assistance with transitioning to new jobs in many locations.
Source: Microsoft
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