Technology giant Microsoft on Thursday confirmed that it was cutting thousands of jobs, mostly in the sales department, to focus more on cloud services, AFP reported. A spokesperson had earlier said that Microsoft was “implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners”.
A majority of these employee cuts will be made to positions outside the United States, the company said, according to The Washington Post.
“Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated,” Microsoft told AFP in an e-mail. “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.”
Microsoft had more than 1.21 lakh employees worldwide at the end of March, according to its website.
Cloud services have been Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella’s primary focus since he took over the company in 2014.
“From large multinationals to small and medium businesses to non-profits all over the world, organisations are using Microsoft’s cloud platforms to power their digital transformation,” Nadella had said when Microsoft had reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2017.
Nadella’s focus on the cloud has paid off for the software giant. In April, the company said that revenue from its Azure division had risen by 93% percent year on year.
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