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Microsoft hits Alt-F4 on 3,000 global sales staff

Why employ people to flog software when you can just force feed people's computers with code anyway?

Microsoft today announced it is dumping 3,000 workers.

Rumors of the layoffs have been swirling all week. On Thursday, the Windows giant confirmed that it is trimming its ranks. It's understood that the vast majority of the job losses will be in sales, and staff outside the US will be hardest hit.

"Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners," a spokesperson told The Register.

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

Redmond declined to confirm which countries are going to be hit hardest by the layoffs, but it does look as though the bulk of American staff are safe. Redmond employs around 114,000 people full-time – 63,000 in the US and 51,000 internationally – so the cuts aren't too serious, except for those being told to pack their bags.

With recent changes to its enterprise agreement to exclude smaller companies, Microsoft is focusing on bigger deals that require fewer staff, while everyone else gets shifted onto a per-person consumption payment model for Microsoft's cloudy services.

Microsoft is going to be expanding on its strategy at next week's Inspire partners summit in Washington, DC, and more layoffs are rumored to be coming in the Autumn. It's not just IT workers who are feeling the pinch as things turn cloudy – sales staff are getting the shaft too. ®

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