Microsoft jobs set to be “eliminated” in non-US markets

Satya Nadella - CEO, Microsoft

The jobs that are expected to be slashed amid Microsoft’s impending organisational changes are reportedly set to come largely from the company’s operations outside of the United States.

The reorganisation, which is expected to affect the company’s sales and marketing teams globally, is anticipated to see somewhere between 3000 and 4000 jobs hit, according to a report by The New York Times.

The publication reported that a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that roles would be “eliminated”, although firm numbers around how many jobs will actually go and where they will come from are yet to emerge.

It is understood that some of the workers set to be affected in what the Times referred to as a “sweeping realignment of its sales and marketing arm” will be able to move into other jobs within the company.

The company told employees of the changes on Monday, according to Reuters, with the organisational restructure set to predominantly impact those employees working under Microsoft’s executive vice presidents, Jean-Philippe Courtois and Judson Althoff.

It is also understood that the reorganisation will affect employees reporting to the company’s chief marketing officer, Chris Capossela.

"Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated," A Microsoft spokesperson told ARN. "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."

According to reports, the internal memos sent to workers did not mention the job losses that media outlets previously reported could result from the proposed changes. If the Times forecast turns out to be right, the figures could well be higher than originally anticipated.

Although, it should be noted that the exact number of jobs set to slashed may remain uncertain for a while yet due to the rules around various labour laws in some markets, as pointed out by the Times.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, has attributed the proposed reorganisation of Microsoft's sales and marketing operations to an effort to give its sales staff greater technical expertise in a bid to attract more customers in growth areas such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing - the latter of which is a primary focus for the company.

At the time of writing, Microsoft Australia had said only that company is “implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners”, echoing the official line that has been distributed globally by the company.

At the same time, tech publication, ZDNet, has reported that the memo sent to employees made mention of Microsoft’s “new commercial and consumer model”.

In January, Microsoft made some other big organisational changes, combining its Small and Mid-Market Solutions & Partners (SMS&P) and Enterprise Partner Group (EPG) business units in an attempt to streamline business processes.

The changes, which will took effect from February 1, were expected to affect its sales, partner, and services teams, and see both units come together as one under its Worldwide Commercial Business, led by executive vice-president, Judson Althoff.

The latest round of expected job cuts comes three years after the global software company revealed plans to cut its workforce by up to 18,000 jobs, or 14 percent, over the following year, as part of a broad effort to streamline the company in the wake of its acquisition of Nokia – which it has since offloaded.

A letter to employees from Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, at the time said that its "work toward synergies and strategic alignment on Nokia Devices and Services is expected to account for about 12,500 jobs, comprising both professional and factory workers.

“We are moving now to start reducing the first 13,000 positions, and the vast majority of employees whose jobs will be eliminated will be notified over the next six months," it said.

Updated at 12:00PM on 7 July 2017 to include additional comment from Microsoft.