Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) said earlier in July that it’ll be laying off 7800 employees of its workforce, and now the company has reportedly confirmed there’s a new round of layoffs. The software giant declined to provide a specific number of job cuts, though the New York Times reports the number of job cuts to be “about 1000”.
“The job reductions were spread across more than one business area and country and reflect adaptations to business needs. We go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.
The latest round of job cuts is another indication as to how the Nadella led Microsoft is aiming at shrinking costs from its global business.
Last year, the company announced the largest round of layoffs in its history, as much 18,000 employees from its global workforce. While in July this year, the company announced a massive restructuring of its phone business unit, cutting another 7,800 jobs following the Nokia acquisition.
Some of Microsoft’s divisions are showing signs of solid performance, such as Azure, which apparently doubled in revenue and usage year-over-year. Revenue from Azure rose 8% to $5.9 billion, which is expected to reach $6.2-6.3 billion in the current quarter. Though some pivotal areas aren’t doing so well which can be attributed to the stagnating PC market. Its revenues from the Surface division came down from $908 million to $672 million, while Windows phones division took a massive toll with revenues dropping by as much as 54 percent year-over-year.
Notably, the announcement comes right after the company’s solid Wall Street earnings for the quarter, easily surpassing predictions both in terms of earnings and revenue. Microsoft on Thursday reported higher than anticipated quarterly adjusted revenue, boosted by the ever growing demand for its cloud products, as its shares went soaring in after-hours trading on Thursday. The company’s shares rose by 9.8% to $52.75 in after-hours trading, the highest ever recorded since 2000.
