Microsoft job losses feared in cloud-focused global restructure

Job losses at Microsoft are feared as part of a global reorganisation of the company's sales and marketing teams, announced to staff this week.

The restructuring is said to affect staff under Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela, executive vice presidents Judson Althoff and Jean-Philippe Courtois, who informed their teams internally. The memos did not mention layoffs.

“Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokeswoman told Reuters.

Media reports have said sackings are expected, with “thousands” of Microsoft employees set to be affected.

According to TechCrunch,​ the restructure will include an organisational merger that will involve an enterprise unit and an SME-focused division,

Sources reported throughout major news outlets including Bloomberg and The Seattle Times revealed the anticipated layoffs over the weekend, reporting that the move represented a continued push to shift the focus of Microsoft’s global sales teams to cloud services.

The reorganisation comes as Microsoft looks to position itself as a major player in the public cloud space against competitors Amazon Web Services and Google.

How the new restructure will be segmented, as well as how Microsoft Australia will be affected is not yet known.

In May 2016 the company wrote off US$950 million and cut 1850 jobs as part of measures to streamline its smartphone hardware business to focus on enterprises and niche areas.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a company-wide restructure to merge is Enterprise Partner Group and Small and Mid-Market Solutions and Partners business units. Those changes, taking effect in February, consolidated the departments under Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business, led by Judson Althoff, who was appointed during a management shakeup this time last year.

In January, a newly announced unit called Microsoft Digital was established to focus on pushing Microsoft’s cloud products to partners and customers alike, this group is led by corporate vice president of Microsoft Services Anand Eswaran and includes developers, software advisors and architects.