Microsoft, Facing Tough Competition From Apple, Google, Reportedly to Cut Thousands of Jobs

**Editor’s Note: Click here for a recap of layoffs impacting some of the biggest names doing business in the indirect channel.**

Microsoft isn’t commenting on reports that it will, as soon as this week, axe thousands of jobs – more than the record 5,800 positions it cut in 2009.

Bloomberg on Tuesday cited conversations with anonymous sources within Microsoft. The job losses are expected to take place in the Nokia handset business, and the marketing and engineering units. Microsoft in September 2013 announced its plans to buy Nokia’s device business for $7.2 billion so it can better compete with rivals Apple and Google. That deal included 30,000 Nokia employees.

At the same time, Microsoft said it would create $600 million in annual savings in the 18 months following the transaction’s close. And, in a memo last week, Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella wrote that “nothing” is off the table as he shifts the company from a software focus to cloud and mobility. Nadella also said Microsoft must run a more lean operation. With those hints in mind, industry observers say Nadella will eliminate a large number of jobs to meet the dual goals of reducing costs and moving away from software.

Bloomberg reported the job-cuts announcement may come this week. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment to the news service. Right now, Microsoft employs about 127,000 people.