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After acquiring Nokia’s phone business for $7.2 billion two years ago, Microsoft is continuing its job cuts in that division, with a further 1,850 employees being let go.
Last year, the firm cut 7,800 jobs to ‘refocus’ its phone efforts, but it seems that wasn’t enough. Now, a further 1,850 employees will be axed, with 1,350 of the layoffs happening in Microsoft’s mobile division in Finland. An additional 500 workers will be let go globally.
Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and devices group said it was an ‘incredibly difficult’ decision, but the company had to be ‘more focused in our phone hardware efforts’.
This latest round of restructuring and job losses will cost Microsoft $950 million, with $200 million going towards severance payments.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has slashed over 25,000 jobs in the last two years at its Nokia division and smartphone hardware business. His predecessor, Steve Ballmer, orchestrated the purchase of Nokia’s struggling mobile phone business in 2013.
Microsoft announced last week that it was selling its entire feature phone business to FIH Mobile and a Nokia-owned Finnish company called HMD Global for $350 million. Around 4,500 employees will be transferred from Microsoft to FIH Mobile as part of the deal.
"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation – with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same," said Nadella in a statement.
"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms.”
