Microsoft poised to cut another 3,000 jobs this week

More jobs going in cost-cutting at Microsoft as company engineers shift in focus to the cloud

Microsoft is to cut 3,000 staff outside the US this week. The company has confirmed the job cuts to the Computing, but hasn't condescended to say how many staff face redundancy.

However, CNBC reports that up to 3,000 staff, or less than 10 per cent of Microsoft's total sales force, will be let go.

"Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners," a Microsoft spokesperson told Computing.

They continued: "Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated.

"Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others."

The possibility of job cuts had already been raised in a report earlier this week, which came via a "source with knowledge of the planned downsizing". It claimed that Microsoft is preparing lay-offs of staff globally, adding that there would be an official announcement later this week.

Microsoft's fiscal year ended on 30 June, so the timing of the cutbacks will almost certainly be tied to the company's move into the new fiscal year, which started on 1 July, and its upcoming annual report and AGM.

This downsizing will also include an "organisational merger" that reportedly involves Microsoft's enterprise customer unit and one or more of its SME-focused divisions.

Bloomberg is also reporting that a Microsoft staffing shuffle is in the works, with the firm looking to reorganise its business so that it can "better focus on selling cloud software".

"The shifts will be some of the most significant in the sales force in years," the report said.

The move follows a number of organisational changes introduced in January affecting Microsoft's sales and marketing teams. That reshuffle saw several of those teams move under the command of Judston Altoff, executive vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business Group.

However, ZDNet's Microsoft-watcher, Mary Jo Foley, said that the number of job cuts might not be as big as TechCrunch and Bloomberg have suggested, adding that the reshuffle comes as Altoff looks to refocus Microsoft's sales team on selling Azure and other cloud services in a bid to catch up with market leader Amazon.

Microsoft, naturally, has declined to comment on the speculation.

Last year, Microsoft announced that it would cut 2,850 jobs, including at least 900 in sales.

Two months earlier, it announced that it would let go of 1,850 staff related to its smartphone business. In July 2015, it made 7,800 job cuts and wrote down $7.6 billion of its Nokia acquisition.