Microsoft dismisses 18,000 employees

New CEO Satya Nadella continues to reform Microsoft. This time, the time has come for a radical reduction in staff.

A few hours ago (it was early morning at the Microsoft headquarters), the CEO sent a letter to employees telling them about upcoming reforms. The layoff of 18,000 is the largest layoff in Microsoft's 39-year history.

By the end of the year, about 12,500 employees of the Nokia Devices and Services division, who are “burdened” by the Nokia brand, and at the same time 5,500 least efficient employees of other divisions, will lose their jobs.

After the takeover of Nokia’s mobile division, Microsoft grew to 127,104, of which 25,000 Nokia employees, so that the reduction will affect about 15% of Microsoft, with 50% of Nokia. The remaining employees of Nokia Devices and Services are “integrating with other Microsoft teams,” Nadella writes.

Such a “purge” cannot be carried out overnight. This year, plans to lay off 13,000 people, and it will be completely completed in 2015. That is, for a year and a half, managers will have to dismiss approximately, on average, 35 people a day, which seems like a feasible task. The absolute majority of those dismissed, Nadella promises, will receive notifications within six months.

In her letter, Satya Nadella says that Microsoft will focus on "investing in innovation" and promises to carry out reforms "as thoughtfully and transparently as possible." Along with staff reductions, new positions will appear in other departments.

About the upcoming layoffs became known yesterday, when Microsoft HR-units began to massively book conference rooms. “Today during the day, your leaders will explain what to expect in your department,” writes Satya Nadella in a letter to employees.

Apparently, a significant part of the layoffs will fall on middle managers. “We plan to leave fewer levels of management, both from top to bottom and between departments, in order to accelerate the flow of information and decision-making,” Nadella writes. - 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 across Microsoft, teams will work more productively. ”