In its third round of layoffs this year, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) says
it is cutting 800 jobs across the company today. The software giant
said in January that it would eliminate up to 5,000 jobs, in response
to falling sales and profits. These represent the third installment in
those previously announced cuts—but the number of jobs cut so far
seems to have now exceeded the 5,000 figure, since Microsoft had said
in its most recent quarterly filing that it had already eliminated
4,600 positions as part of those reductions.

The company had cut 1,400 jobs back in January and followed up with
thousands of additional layoffs in May. At the time, the company had
warned that additional layoffs were still to come.

A spokeswoman tells us that Microsoft has now completed what it is
referring to as its “reduction plan.” However, she adds that
“continuing to manage our businesses closely, as we always do, can
mean additional headcount adjustments.”

The layoffs come just over a week after Microsoft once again reported
sharp declines in revenue and profits. However, the results were
better than analysts had expected and executives had struck a positive
tone during the call, saying that they were now well positioned for a
“recovering economy.”

Seattle-area tech news site TechFlash first reported last evening that
layoffs were coming today.

Here’s the full statement from Microsoft: “Earlier this year, we
announced that in order to reduce costs, increase efficiency and
prioritize our focus areas, we would eliminate approximately 5,000
positions by June 2010.  Today, we are eliminating around 800
positions spread across multiple businesses and locations and have
completed our reduction plan sooner than we had anticipated 11 months
ago.  At the same time, we continue to hire in priority areas, but
also understand that continuing to manage our businesses closely, as
we always do, can mean additional headcount adjustments.”