Microsoft and Skype offices in the Rives de Clausen complex Microsoft

Microsoft and Skype offices in the Rives de Clausen complex Microsoft

The company “will cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs” worldwide, the New York Times said on 6 July.

About 75% of the job cuts will take place outside the US, CNBC reported on Thursday.

The US technology firm is reorganising its sales and marketing functions, the New York Times explained. Microsoft is facing increased competition from the likes of Amazon, Google, IBM and Oracle in the cloud computing sector.

Workers who are being made redundant or transferred to another position were informed on Thursday, the newspaper reported.

No details on Luxembourg jobs were published.

The company declined to confirm any of the figures mentioned in the press reports. A Microsoft spokesman told Delano on Friday that:

“Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners. Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others.”

Microsoft’s Luxembourg operations and the company’s Skype unit are based in the Rives de Clausen complex in the capital. A LinkedIn search on Friday morning found 49 people who said they currently work at Microsoft or Skype in the grand duchy.

The New York Times said on Thursday:

“Microsoft’s global head count is 121,500, a number that has increased in the last few years.”

The company eliminated 18,000 positions in 2014, following its acquisition of Nokia, according to the Washington Post. It announced a further 2,850 job cuts last year.

Microsoft shut down its Skype office in London, but kept the unit’s operations in Luxembourg and Estonia, The Independent reported in September 2016.

This article has been updated with comments from Microsoft.