No.1 Link Building &
SEO Firm in US & UK

 Microsoft announced that the company would cut as many as 5,000 jobs over an 18-month period, and started the process in January, letting go about 1,400 people. Now a second wave of layoffs is scheduled which will kick the total closer to the higher of the two numbers.

Microsoft said, “As part of the plan we announced in January to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, today we are eliminating additional positions across several areas of the company. While job eliminations are always difficult, we are taking these necessary actions in response to the global economic downturn.”

Steve Ballmer spoke directly to employees in an email. Amidst the obligatory commiseration over how difficult letting people go is, combined thanks for their contributions, Ballmer said:

Today’s action includes positions in the United States and in a number of countries around the world. In the U.S., affected employees will be notified directly by their managers today. In other countries, local leadership teams will provide more specific information about the impact to their organizations.

With this announcement, we are mostly but not all done with the planned 5,000 job eliminations by June 2010. We are moving quickly to reach this target in response to consistent feedback from our people and business groups that it’s important to make decisions and reduce uncertainty for employees as quickly as possible, and so that organizations can concentrate their efforts and resources on strategic objectives.

Microsoft is still reportedly actively hiring between 2,000 and 3,000 workers this year, despite continuing the cuts already planned. No clue where the shuffle is taking place branch-wise, though rumor has it that it is international and domestic in scope.

Tags: hire, layoffs, MSN