Big job cuts have been announced by Microsoft. The world’s largest software maker said it was eliminating up to 18,000 positions over the next year.<br /><br />That is 14 percent of its total workforce and represents the deepest cuts made during its near 40-year history<br /><br />Around 12,500 of the layoffs are from the integration of its recent acquisition – mobile phone handset maker Nokia – which will see its workforce halved. <br /><br />Chief executive Satya Nadella pledged to streamline the business and unify its software and hardware efforts when he got the job five months ago. <br /><br />Nadella’s moves are designed to help Microsoft shift from being a primarily software-focused company to one that sells online services, apps and devices it hopes will make people and businesses more productive. <br /><br />The CEO needs to make Microsoft a stronger competitor to Google and Apple, which dominate the new era of mobile-centric computing.<br /><br />The Nokia-related cuts were widely expected. Microsoft said when it struck that deal that it would cut $600 million (443 million euros) per year in costs within 18 months of closing the deal.<br /><br />Microsoft did not detail exactly where the remaining jobs would be cut, but said the first wave of layoffs would affect 1,351 jobs in the Seattle area.<br /><br />The company said it expects to take pretax charges of $1.1 billion (812 million euros) to $1.6 billion (1.18 billion euros) over the next four quarters to account for the costs of the layoffs.<br /><br />with Reuters
