After announcing in June its intent to slim down and terminate 18,000 jobs over 12 months, the hatchet man has returned to Microsoft for a second round of job cuts that will see 2,100 individuals sent back into the job market.
With the 12,500 jobs Microsoft cut during the first round of its slimming efforts, followed shortly by 500 more layoffs, the latest round of downsizing leaves 2,900 jobs to be terminated before the summer of 2015.
Of the 2,100 jobs Microsoft has cut in its latest round of layoffs, 757 of them were said to have come from Washington state and 160 from California. The latest round of job cuts also resulted in the shuttering of a research lab in Silicon Valley, which is said to have employed a staff of 50.
Other job cuts during Microsoft's second round of layoffs hit the company's Xbox division, exacting job cuts at its the Xbox Entertainment Studios (XES). News that Microsoft was planning to draw the curtains on the original entertainment studio emerged in July.
"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries," said Microsoft. "We will continue to go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals and recognition of their service to the company."
In July, Microsoft cut 12,500 jobs from its Nokia facilities in Finland. Microsoft is said to have taken on 30,000 new employees when it acquired Nokia's devices in services division in April.
Lauri Ihalainen, Finland's labor minister, said the country had feared Microsoft's layoffs, but now, in the aftermath, it can only hope for severance packages.
"Microsoft's intention to reduce jobs also in Finland is the bad news we feared," Ihalainen said. "The least that can be now expected is that it creates a credible support package to those it lets go, similar to what was done with those let go from Nokia."
When Nokia itself laid off 40,000 employees, it used its Bridge program to help the terminated employees develop startups. While no such program has been announced by Microsoft, the company said it will do its best to offer support to the laid off employees.
"As a responsible company, we strive to do our best to ensure that employees affected by the potential cuts are offered a variety of support measures and advice, including in finding new work," Microsoft said after cutting 12,500 jobs in Finland.
