Microsoft has announced its biggest job cut ever, reducing the headcount by around 18,000 people. In an email to all the employees, company’s CEO Satya Nadella said that 18,000 people will be losing their jobs next year. Among those 18,000 are 12,500 former Nokia employees, he said. Nadella also hinted at Microsoft’s future plans with Android-powered Nokia handsets. He says that the company will be merging select Nokia X product designs to Lumia running Windows.
Earlier report suggested that the company will be letting go as many as 6,000 people, but Nadella clearly had something different in mind. “We are moving now to start reducing the first 13,000 positions, and the vast majority of employees whose jobs will be eliminated will be notified over the next six month,” wrote Nadella.
Though, this isn’t the first time Microsoft has reduced the headcount. In 2009, the company had fired over 5,800 employees. This job cut isn’t surprising either. After signing the Nokia deal, the company pledged to save roughly $600 million in annual costs within 18 months of completing the acquisition. Nadella says that he will share more information on July 22ed earning calls.
That’s not it. Nadella hinted what could be the end of Nokia X devices. “We plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows.” It means that the company could put less focus on its Android-based Nokia projects, whereas it could also mean that Microsoft would port some of the products designs from Android to Windows Phone OS. “This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps.”
