Microsoft is reportedly planning a restructuring that may see thousands of its sales Employees lose their jobs. According to several news reports, including The Verge, the company plans to reorganize its workforce as it shifts focus to Cloud Services.
The Redmond based software maker of the popular desktop operating system, Windows 10, is one of the biggest technology companies, employing hundreds of thousands of people globally. While it lays off hundreds of people annually, it is expected that the latest decision will mainly affect the staff in sales department, specially those working in the Enterprise Customer Unit and the company's SME divisions.
Not the first time Microsoft is laying off thousands of its employees
This isn't the first time that the Windows maker is announcing last minute layoffs. The Redmond Windows maker cut around 7,800 jobs in 2015 when Microsoft had to write off the $7.6 billion in the failed Nokia acquisition. After that, in 2016 the Windows maker cut 2,850 jobs with a massive focus on its sales staff where over 900 people lost their jobs.
Over the weekend, the Puget Sound Business Journal and The Seattle Times confirmed massive layoffs as Microsoft focuses on cloud services within its sales teams. It seems possible that 2017 will also see the global sales group employed by Microsoft experiencing major layoffs.
The departures of several employees this time are largely due to Microsoft shifting its focus to the cloud services, which will result in many from the sales group having to leave the company.
Microsoft is expected to confirm these reports next week when it will announces the restructuring plans.
Microsoft hasn't acknowledged these reports yet
The company is yet to confirm these plans but reports from multiple sources, including TechCrunch, have claimed that Microsoft's downsizing plans have thousands of its staff across the world losing their jobs.
The restructuring plan will see Microsoft's enterprise customer unit merging with some of its SME divisions.
This merger and the subsequent layoffs are expected to go live as soon as the next week. However, no exact date is known at the moment as the technology mammoth is yet to confirm these reports itself. Microsoft ends the fiscal year in July, which means most of these decisions are reported in the same quarter too.
Currently, it is unclear exactly how many people will be affected by this decision worldwide. However, looking at last year when a similar decision affected thousands of Microsoft employees, it is likely this upcoming move will also affect a huge number of people employed by the company globally.
