Microsoft lays off 3,000, ending latest round of cuts

SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft laid off 3,000 workers Wednesday, finishing a round of 18,000 layoffs that the company announced in July.

"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries," a Microsoft spokesman said in an emailed statement.

The majority of those who lost their jobs, close to 70%, were former Nokia staffers, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said in a blog post.

Microsoft purchased the Finnish company's handset business for $7.5 billion in April. Microsoft scrapped the Nokia X Android phones, shifting them to become Lumia products running Windows, Nadella said.

The rest of the layoffs were part of a strategic shift in direction to help Microsoft "become more agile and move faster," Nadella said.

His goal is to simplify the company, ending up with a flatter organization with fewer layers of management that will result in "more productive, impactful teams," he said.

The 18,000 employees who have lost their jobs represent about 14% of Microsoft's overall staff.

Of the 3,000 let go Wednesday, 638 were in the Seattle area where Microsoft is based.