Microsoft Announces Additional Mass Layoff of 2,850 Workers

Microsoft Announces Additional Mass Layoff of 2,850 Workers

By: Daniel Steingold | July 28, 2016

On Thursday, Microsoft announced through a regulatory filing that it will lay off 2,850 workers by the end of the company’s 2017 fiscal year.

These new layoffs come on top of a mass layoff of 1,850 individuals announced in May. Taken together, Microsoft will be letting go of 4,700 workers.

The latest cuts will primarily affect the company’s smartphone business, along with its global sales unit.

Microsoft had previously hoped that it would be able to compete in the smartphone business, which prompted them to purchase Nokia in 2014 for $7.6 billion. Microsoft was never able to achieve the type of integration they envisioned.

In June of last year, Microsoft announced that it would cut 7,400 jobs from its smartphone subsidiary. All of this consolidation, along with comments by CEO Satya Nadella, suggests that the tech giant is trying to exit the smartphone industry altogether.

It is unclear as to which employees will be targeted geographically, in terms of the layoffs.

Microsoft currently has about 114,000 employees, 44,000 of whom are located in the state of Washington, where the corporation is headquartered.

Its layoffs this past May primarily affected workers living in Finland, the country out of which Nokia is based.

It will be interesting to see how other Microsoft properties— including Skype and the newly-acquired LinkedIn— will perform in the wake of these job cuts.


Find the Perfect Job for You

DreamHire recommends you jobs that fit your
skills, experiences, career goals, and more.