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Bloodthirsty Microsoft prepares for imminent 'major' job cuts

Ugh – this magic tastes absolutely horrible!

Microsoft is sharpening the axe for a "major" round of job cuts, according to a report.

The New York Times reckons on a fresh round of layoffs on Wednesday (July 8) but there were no more details. Microsoft is reported to have not commented.

Any cuts would come on top of the 18,000 already drawn up. Cuts are expected to fall on Microsoft’s hardware group, among the former Nokians now toiling on Windows phones, who have shouldered considerable numbers of cuts already.

In the third quarter, Microsoft alerted Wall Street to the fact it may write down the $7.2bn Nokia mobile and devices business bought by former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Replacement CEO Satya Nadella slyly hinted that jobs cuts were coming in a recent unhumble epic on the nature of magic and planetary corporate missions. That was dismantled here (paywall).

It was Nokia that took Microsoft’s head count past the 100,000 mark to 130,000. Today, the company has 128,000 employees.

It’s already been reported that Microsoft is pulling out of display ads and will hand operations to AOL and AppNexus.

Around 1,200 Redmond staffers will be shunted out as a result of that move. This is the last remnants of the mega aQuantive deal, which was supposed to turn Microsoft into an online ads powerhouse. That was written down in 2012 by $6.2bn.

Microsoft is expected to announce results for fiscal year 2015 on July 21, with the new financial year having commenced on July 1. ®

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