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Microsoft to lay off up to 7,800

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is swinging the axe again at the software giant.

Up to 7,800 people will be laid off, the company announced Wednesday morning. Most of the jobs are within its smartphone hardware business.
Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) had 118,600 employees as of March 30, with about 60,000 of those workers in the United States. The cuts represents about 7% of those employees, compared to the 14% cut announced a year ago.
This is Nadella's second major restructuring. Last year, he announced 18,000 layoffs in Nokia's devices and services business, following Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30)'s acquisition of the handset maker.
The new job cuts and restructuring will also mean a $7.6 billion writedown for the company, a one-time charge that many have been expecting.
Steve Ballmer's 2013 purchase of handset maker Nokia was one of his most criticized deals. Analysts attacked the former Microsoft CEO for hampering the company with an aging legacy business.
"It is a deal that makes no sense," Ben Thompson, an independent analyst, wrote when the acquisition was first announced. "Adding on a mobile phone business that Microsoft probably should abandon is like attaching an anchor to said straitjacket and tossing the patient into the ocean."

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