Microsoft moves forward with job cuts

Microsoft is beginning the second phase of the layoff play it announced earlier this year.

The company on Tuesday confirmed that it would be making the second series of job cuts in its ongoing campaign to reduce costs.

The cuts at Redmond are said to number in the thousands and are believed to fulfil nearly all of the 5,000 layoffs the company estimated it would be making in January after posting disappointing financial results.

The layoffs were the first broad-sweeping series of cuts the company has ever had to make and are said to represent some five per cent of Microsoft's total workforce. The latest series of cuts will effect employees both in the US and internationally.

In a corporate email later leaked to the press, chief executive Steve Ballmer did not rule out the possibility of more layoffs should the company's fortunes not improve.

"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.

"Because our success at Microsoft has always been the direct result of the talent, hard work, and commitment of our people, eliminating positions is hard. "