Microsoft fires 18,000 employees

The new executive director Satya Nadella continues reforms in Microsoft. This time it is time to drastically reduce the state.

A few hours ago (in the main office of Microsoft was earlier morning), the company's CEO sent out a letter to the employees in which he spoke about future reforms. Dismissing 18,000 people is the largest staff reduction in Microsoft's 39-year history.

Until the end of the year, about 12,500 employees of the Nokia Devices and Services division, who are left in charge of the Nokia brand, and at the same time 5500 least efficient employees of other divisions, will lose their jobs.
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After the takeover of Nokia’s mobile unit, Microsoft grew to 127,104 people, of which 25,000 Nokia employees, so the reduction will affect about 15% of Microsoft staff, with 50% of Nokia staff. The remaining employees of Nokia Devices and Services "integrate with other Microsoft teams," writes Nadella.

Such a “purge” cannot be done overnight. This year they plan to lay off 13,000 people, and it will be fully completed in 2015. That is, for one and a half years, managers will have to lay off approximately, on average, 35 people a day, which seems like a reasonable task. The absolute majority of those dismissed, promises Nadella, will receive a notice within six months.

In her letter, Satya Nadella says that Microsoft will focus on "investing in innovation" and promises to make reforms "as carefully as possible and transparently." Along with the reduction of staff will appear new positions in other departments.

About the coming mass layoffs, it became known yesterday, when Microsoft's HR departments began to massively book conference rooms. “Today, during the day, your leaders will explain what to expect in your department,” Satya Nadella writes in a letter to the staff.

Apparently, a significant part of the layoffs will fall on middle managers. “We plan to leave fewer levels of management, both from the top down and between departments, in order to speed up the flow of information and decision making,” writes Nadella. - This means a decrease in the number of managers, and a weakening of control over employees on their part. In addition, our business processes will become simpler and more efficient with a greater level of trust between individual teams. As a result of all these changes, teams will become more productive throughout Microsoft. ”