Ahead of its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Microsoft is in the headlines for something other than its financial comings and goings. (Via Getty Images)
The New York Times reports Microsoft plans to "eliminate up to 18,000 jobs over the next year."
This round of layoffs greatly eclipses the company's last major round when, in 2009, Microsoft eliminated nearly 6,000 jobs. (Via CNN, TechCrunch)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella began to prepare employees for the announcement in a recent memo to the company. (Via Getty Images)
"Every team across Microsoft must find ways to simplify and move faster, more efficiently. We will increase the fluidity of information and ideas by taking actions to flatten the organization and develop leaner business processes." (Via Microsoft)
While Nadella says the layoffs are a means of making the overgrown tech company more agile, many argue the move is based in money.
A writer for Bloomberg points out Microsoft pledged a whopping $600 million in cost savings after its purchase of Nokia's phone business.
As it stands, most of the layoffs will come from the Nokia side of things. Seventy percent of eliminated jobs will be those belonging to former Nokia employees. (Via Getty Images)
And ZDNet reports the non-Nokia layoffs will "reduce redundancies and eliminate some engineers who aren't developers."
Motivated by money or not, it's clear Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has a specific vision for Microsoft and will achieve it regardless of any tough decisions.
Nadella's memo to the company, entitled "Bold Ambition & Our Core," outlines the company's goals going forward. Ballmer's strategy of positioning Microsoft as a "devices and services" company has been replaced by Nadella's vision of "a mobile-first and cloud-first" company.
