US computer software company Microsoft is planning its biggest layoffs in five years as it plans to integrate Nokia Oyj 's mobile phone unit , Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The job cuts, expected to be announced within the week, may concern the Nokia unit and Microsoft departments where there is overlap with it, as well as the marketing and design departments.
After acquiring Nokia's mobile phone business this spring, Microsoft has 127,000 employees, far more than rivals Apple and Google. Wall Street expects Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to make the first major layoffs since 2009. The restructuring could be the largest in the company's history, surpassing the 5,800 job cuts in 2009, the report said.
Last week, Nadella issued a circular to employees promising to “normalize the organization and promote tighter processes across the business,” but made no comment on the company’s more widely expected job cuts. Nadella said he would address organizational and financial issues for the new fiscal year, which began July 1, when the company reports quarterly results on July 22.
Source: newsit.gr
