Microsoft is pushing forward with its cost-cutting regime, with the axe falling on employees hit by its second round of lay-offs.
Some reports have suggested that the total cull may end up being much higher than previously publicised, according to an email seen by a number of media outlets.
The software giant announced the redundancy plans back in January, blaming the harsh winds of the economy, as one key reason for tightening its belt and looking at headcount as a way of doing so.
"As part of the plan we announced in January to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, today Microsoft is commencing consultation to remove additional positions across several areas of the company. A number of UK positions are affected, representing about 5% of the 2880 people currently based in the UK. We are working closely with affected employees to help them through this difficult transition," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement issued to IT PRO.
It continued: "While job reductions are always difficult, we need to rebalance resources against our priorities in the current climate and we will continue to evaluate our business to ensure that our investments are aligned to current and future revenue opportunities. We believe in the strength of the company, our ability to continue delivering value to customers and our approach to long-term growth."
However, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive allegedly took a slightly different tone and failed to completely rule out the idea of more job cuts.
"As we move forward, we will continue to closely monitor the impact of the economic downturn on the company and if necessary, take further actions on our cost structure, including additional job eliminations," Ballmer wrote in the email, according to Reuters.
