Microsoft lays off another 2,100 workers worldwide

These new losses are part of the 18,000 job cuts the company announced in July

The inevitable has happened: the second round of layoffs has finally hit Microsoft, with another 2,100 workers getting a pink slip, a company spokesperson had confirmed to VatorNews, 

While its nowhere near as ugly as the first round, which saw 13,000 jobs cut, with the vast majority of them coming from Microsoft's newly acquired Nokia division, its still going to hit a lot of people very hard.

“As we announced July 17, Microsoft is reducing our overall workforce by approximately 18,000 positions over the course of the year, with about 13,000 reductions initiated in July," the spokesperson told me. "We've taken another step in that process today, with the elimination of about 2,100 jobs which are part of the overall 18,000 number announced in July."

When I asked what divisions would be getting cut, the company would not offer up any specifics.

"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries," the Microsoft spokesperson said. "We will continue to go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals and recognition of their service to the company."

It was noted that Microsoft will be offering severance to all employees affected by the cuts. All of these severance packages will cost Microsoft a pretty penny; it is expecting to pay between $1.1 and $1.6 billion over the next year, including between $750 and $800 in severance and related benefit costs, and another $350 million to $800 million in asset-related charges. 

None of these job cuts are surprising; after all, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had made it pretty clear that he was planning to make Microsoft leaner and more efficient in a lengthy blog post he posted a week before the first.

Consisting of 3,100 words, Nadella, for the first time, laid out his vision for the future of the company: specifically that it should be able to be competitive in a "mobile-first and cloud-first world."

"We will increase the fluidity of information and ideas by taking actions to flatten the organization and develop leaner business processes. Culture change means we will do things differently. Often people think that means everyone other than them. In reality, it means all of us taking a new approach and working together to make Microsoft better," he wrote.

"To this end, I've asked each member of the Senior Leadership Team to evaluate opportunities to advance their innovation processes and simplify their operations and how they work."

With a total of 18,000 jobs to be cut, and with 13,000 gone in the first round, and now another 2,100, that means that Microsoft still is planning to eliminate another 2,900 jobs.

This story was first reported by ZDNet on Thursday. 

(Image source: kyleeastham.com)