Microsoft to cut 1,850 jobs in smartphone business

Microsoft plans to cut another 1,850 jobs in its smartphone business. Most of the layoffs, 1,350, will be in Finland at Microsoft Mobile Oy. In that case, it concerns employees who ended up at Microsoft after the acquisition of Nokia.

Microsoft says it wants to “streamline” its smartphone branch with the layoffs. The head office is located in Finland and 1,350 jobs will be lost there. The other 500 layoffs are worldwide. Last week it was announced that Microsoft has sold the rights to the Nokia brand name and its feature phone factory in Vietnam. The layoff seems to be a direct result of that decision.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company will continue to make smartphones, but will focus on areas that will help the brand differentiate itself from the competition. Nadella specifically mentions companies and consumers who value security, manageability and Continuum. The CEO also says that Microsoft “continues to innovate in the field of devices and cloud services on all mobile platforms.”

When Microsoft took over large parts of Nokia in 2013, about 25,000 Nokia employees transferred to the American company. In recent years, Microsoft has already held several layoffs. In 2014, the layoff of 12,500 former Nokia employees was announced.

The company is earmarking $950 million for restructuring, of which about $200 million will be used to compensate employees who will be laid off. Microsoft expects the layoffs to be largely completed by the end of this year. In July 2017, the end of the company’s fiscal year, the layoff round should be complete.