Microsoft Corp. said it plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce this year, taking steps to cope with an increasingly bleak outlook that has now bruised many of the technology industry’s biggest companies.
The company will take a $1.2 billion charge in the second quarter related to the move, which will shave 12 cents off of earnings per share, the company said in a corporate filing. The layoffs come as the software giant said it’s seeing customers exercise caution, with some parts of the world in recession and others heading toward one. Microsoft is scheduled to report results on Jan. 24. and is forecast to post its slowest revenue increase in six years.
Speaking earlier in the day before the cuts were announced, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella cautioned the industry is going through a period of slowdown and will need to adjust.
