Microsoft cuts 7,800 jobs worldwide

Microsoft will be cutting approximately 7,800 jobs worldwide, most of which is coming from its mobile and devices sector.According to a press statement on its site, the company will record an impairment charge of approximately US$7.6 billion related to assets associated with the acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services (NDS) business, in addition to a restructuring charge of approximately US$750 million to US$850 million.The announcement comes a year after Microsoft announced plans to cut 18,000 jobs to prepare the company for the integration of Nokia staff post acquisition. The Nokia brand was acquired by Microsoft in April 2014 for US$7.2 billion.When reached, Microsoft was unable to share more details with Marketing on how the decision will impact the APAC teams.Going forward, Microsoft also hopes to further invest in search as its core advertising technology and service. It will be partnering with AOL and AppNexus for display.Meanwhile, Bing will carry on powering search and search advertising across the AOL portfolio of sites, in addition to the partnerships it already has with Yahoo!, Amazon and Apple. Last year Bing grew to 20% share in the US while growing Microsoft’s search advertising revenue 28% percent over the past 12 months, said Microsoft.According to a memo sent out internally, CEO Satya Nadella said that the culling will take place over the next few months. In the note, he said that the company wants to now focus its talent and investments in areas where it has “differentiation and potential for growth”.“I am committed to our first-party devices including phones. However, we need to focus our phone efforts in the near term while driving reinvention. We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem that includes our first-party device family,” he said.In the near future, given the company recently formed a Windows and Devices Group, Microsoft also aims to now run a more effective phone portfolio. Microsoft also will narrow its focus to three customer segments.Nadella added that the long term plan is for Microsoft to spark innovation and create new categories. Read his full email to employees here.