It was reported earlier this week that Microsoft was going to announce a big reorganization move in the coming days as the company is shifting its focus more to its cloud products. Microsoft has confirmed the layoffs today. The company is cutting 3,000 jobs to increase its focus on the cloud. The company says that the layoffs will mostly impact its sales division.
Microsoft has also pointed out that almost 75 percent of these layoffs will be outside the United States. The total number of jobs being cut represent 10 percent of Microsoft’s total sales force.
The reports last week suggested that Microsoft was going to make this move in the near future. It’s reportedly going to increase its focus on how its Azure cloud services are sold.
Microsoft’s Azure business has been bringing in a lot of money for the company over the past few quarters. It noted a sales growth of 93 percent in the last quarter alone. So it’s not surprising to see Microsoft focus more on this division.
The company has said that it’s not cutting these jobs because it wants to cut costs. It’s a change in how Microsoft handles sales. Microsoft’s plan is to take more knowledgeable employees in specific verticals and have them sell its cloud products.