As expected, Microsoft hit go on a number of layoffs today, letting 2,100 people go, including 747 people in the Seattle-Redmond area, where the company is headquartered.
The firings come as a second wave of the layoffs that were previously announced. Out of 18,000 expected cuts, 13,000 were pulled off nearly immediately. Today’s 2,100 brings the total number to just over 15,000, leaving around 3,000 left on the table.
Microsoft acquired tens of thousands of employees when it bought the majority of Nokia’s hardware assets. Its new phone business was a material drag on its earnings per share in the most recent quarter. In the short term, the company cannot afford to pay all those workers. Hence the layoffs.
Microsoft hopes that its slimming down will be useful in helping it to become more nimble. That may be true. Sources on the ground say that the overall climate is moderate in Redmond, and that the company’s campus employees are not overly shaken up in the face of the firings. That said, most of the layoffs to date have been non-headquarters-based denizens.
Expect at least one more round of layoffs.