Despite being the biggest job cut in Microsoft’s history, impact on India is ‘very very small’

Microsoft had its biggest-ever layoff in company history by letting go 18,000 employees. Of the total 18,000, about 12,500 will be removed through synergies and strategic alignment of the Nokia Devices and Services business. But despite being the biggest layoff, it will only have “minimal” impact in India.

The company pledged to save $600 million within the next 18 months after the completion of Nokia’s acquisition. “The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce. With this in mind, we will begin to reduce the size of our overall workforce by up to 18,000 jobs in the next year,” wrote Nadella.

India is one of the most important geographies for Microsoft. There are about 6,500 Microsoft employees working in the country. However, the impact of the job cut will be “very, very small”. “We have about 6,500 employees in India, which also includes employees from Nokia. The impact will be minimal. It will be very very small.” said a Microsoft spokesperson to Press Trust of India.

But again, not to forget the drama going on in the Chennai-based factory where thousands of employees recently lost their jobs.