Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella
Microsoft has made the latest in a series of major cuts to staff numbers as it attempts to streamline the business and change its focus to being a cloud and mobile-first company.
Microsoft informed employees in July that 18,000 jobs would need to be cut. The company has already slashed 13,000 positions, most of which lay in its recently acquired Nokia devices and services business.
According to ZDnet, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed this is the latest round of major job cuts, with 747 of those jobs coming from the state of Washington, home of Microsoft’s headquarters.
The company’s research lab, which employs 50 people, was one of the first to be announced as closing as part of the cuts. One of the lab’s researchers, Derek Murray, commented on the news on Twitter.
Well, so long Microsoft Research Silicon Valley. It was nice while it lasted.
— Derek Murray (@mrry) September 18, 2014
It is understood this round of cuts does not affect Microsoft Ireland’s staff of around 2,000 people, who work in Sandyford, Dublin.
The financial cost of these job cuts are expected to be significant, with severance packages and redundancies totalling somewhere in the region of US$1.1bn and US$1.6bn.
