Microsoft Corp on Thursday said that it axed 2,100 jobs in a second round of cuts which were announced earlier this year.
The US technology titan in July unveiled plans to slash a total of 18,000 jobs from its global workforce during the course of a year, the majority from its recently acquired Nokia handset unit.
In the first round, Microsoft cut about 13,000 workers.
“We have taken another step in that process today, with the elimination of about 2,100 jobs,” the Washington-based company said in an e-mail response to an inquiry Thursday.
“The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units and many different countries,” the company added.
Microsoft said it will continue the trimming process in “the most thoughtful manner,” offering severance packages to those whose jobs are eliminated.
The workforce reduction announced in July was the biggest ever by Microsoft and came as chief executive Satya Nadella called for a new focus at the company while integrating the Nokia phone division.
The overall cuts represented about 14 percent of Microsoft’s global payroll of some 127,000. The company will take a charge of between US$1.1 billion and US$1.6 billion for costs related to the layoffs.
Of the total reductions, some 12,500 professional and factory positions from Nokia “will be eliminated through synergies and strategic alignment,” Microsoft said.
The job cuts are far bigger than the last major reboot for Microsoft in 2009, when it eliminated 5,800 jobs.
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