Microsoft Plans Major Job Cuts – NYT

Most companies have a mission statement of some sort but it can be easy to overlook just how important they are until you see a glaring example of one gone wrong – Satya Nadella’s latest offering is exactly that.

The layoffs are expected to include those working in Microsoft’s hardware group, according to people briefed on the plans in a report by The New York Times.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced 18,000 job cuts this time a year ago.

Some 7,800 positions will go across Microsoft globally in the next few months, with majority coming from the phone business.

Today’s job cuts also follow Microsoft parting ways with ex-Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and the merge of the hardware and software businesses into a single unit. We expect that the reductions will take place over the next several months.

“I am committed to our first-party devices including phones”, he insisted.

Ballmer might have stomped the world stage like the archetypal 800lb gorilla, but during his tenure, Microsoft ceded control of the mobile market to Apple, Google, and a wave of low-priced Chinese electronics companies.

The company explained the write-down by saying that it’s restructuring of the phone business meant that its future prospects were below original expectations. Microsoft is looking to Windows 10 as a white knight that will run all apps across all devices and bring new features and a new look to PCs, tablets and mobile phones.

The wide-ranging redundancy of 7,800 employees is due to be “substantially complete” by the end of the calendar year, and “fully completed” by the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year.

MCV has reached out to Microsoft for some clarification.

Recently, it was reported that key Bing Map technology was acquired by Uber, while its ad business was acquired by AOL.

In the longer term, Microsoft devices will spark innovation, create new categories and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly.