Microsoft May Slash 1,000 Nokia Jobs In Finland And Shutter Oulu Research Division

Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) employees will reportedly face the bulk of Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) pending jobs cuts as the Redmond, Washington, technology titan looks to shed costs and consolidate operations.

According to a report by Finnish newspaper Helsingen Sanomat on Wednesday, Microsoft plans to cut Nokia’s Finland operations by about 1,000 jobs.

Of those cuts many are expected to come from the Nokia’s research and development labs in Oulu, Finland, which employs 500 workers. According to Helsingen Sanomat, Nokia also employs 1,120 in Tampere, 1,100 in Salo and 1,970 in Espoo.

Rumors of the pending Microsoft job cuts surfaced on Tuesday, with Bloomberg reporting that the number of overall jobs cuts this year may exceed those that occurred in the company's 2009 restructuring where employees faced 5,800 layoffs.

A memo sent to Microsoft employees last week by CEO Satya Nadella also raised questions about whether more staff cuts will be on the way.

While the details of the pending Microsoft job cuts have yet to be confirmed, Microsoft is reportedly planning to make cuts in its Xbox division, with many of the cuts likely occurring in Reading, England.

Other cuts may also occur in Microsoft’s engineering division, with some software testers on the chopping block.

Microsoft acquired Nokia in September 2013 for $7.2 billion while also simultaneously pledging to find $600 million in annual savings within 18 months.

Microsoft currently employs approximately 127,000 employees, with 30,000 of those employees coming from the acquisition of Nokia’s handset division.

The Redmond, Washington, tech titan isn’t alone with its cutbacks. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) announced in May that it would lay off 11,000 to 16,000 employees, after the company accidentally released the first page of its second-quarter earnings report.