Microsoft CEO pivots sharply with 18,000 job cut By RYAN NAKASHIMAAP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) – Microsoft announced the biggest layoffs in its 39-year history Thursday, outlining plans to cut 18,000 jobs in a move that marked the CEOs sharpest pivot yet away from his predecessors drive for the company to make its own devices. Although some cuts had been expected ever since Microsoft acquired Nokias mobile-device unit, the number amounted to 14 percent of the Microsoft workforce – about twice what analysts had estimated. The cuts will include some 12,500 jobs associated with the Nokia unit – nearly half of the 28,000 employees Microsoft brought on board in April through the acquisition. When the cuts are complete, the company will still have about 10,000 employees from the Nokia acquisition, bringing its overall headcount to 109,000. In a public email to employees, CEO Satya Nadella said the changes were needed for the company to “become more agile and move faster.” The move also pushes Nokia to focus solely on the Windows Phone operating system. Nadella is clearly backing away from former CEO Steve Ballmers strategy of getting Microsoft to make its own smartphones and tablets. “Hes making a pretty serious game-changing strategy move away from hardware,” said [...] geogianews/microsoft-ceo-pivots-sharply-with-18000-job-cut/
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 23:45:19 +0000
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