Microsoft has struggled to keep up with other tech giants who have been hugely successful in mobile -- something Microsoft has not been able to achieve -- in addition to lagging PC sales on a global scale. The company just performed a second sweeping round of layoffs.
VentureBeat details the closing of the R&D center:
The layoffs come as Microsoft is struggling to make its transition to a mobile-first world. So the departure of new product development talent might seem counterintuitive. But it may be part of a strategic rebalancing that new CEO Satya Nadella has designed for the company.
As part of this action, a Re/code story says, Microsoft dramatically reduced its Silicon Valley presence by closing its R&D center there, which was responsible for dreaming up and developing future hit products.
The layoffs will affect more than 50 high-ranking scientists and engineers, Re/code said, meaning most of the staff at the research facility. The timing of the closure, the exact number of people affected, aren’t yet known.
The second wave of layoffs follow a first wave of around 13,000 job reductions. That leaves approximately 2,900 more job cuts to be made, though it's not clear when those will come and whether they'll happen all at once or in multiple waves.
"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries. We will continue to go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals and recognition of their service to the company," a spokeswoman for Microsoft told PCWorld in an email.
