Microsoft preparing to lay off thousands of employees: report

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Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, speaks during a Microsoft launch event to introduce the new Microsoft Surface laptop and Windows 10 S operating system, May 2, 2017 in New York City.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to lay off thousands of employees around the world, according to a report at TechCrunch.

The company will make the cuts as part of a restructuring to focus on cloud services, TechCrunch said, noting that Microsoft may be specifically focusing on how it sells its Azure products. The layoffs may come as soon and may affect redundant employees in the company’s Worldwide Commercial Business, Bloomberg said recently.

Microsoft’s Azure business has been doing well, however. The company noted that Azure revenue growth nearly double during the third quarter, with 93 percent sales growth. Azure will continue to face competition from products such as Amazon Web Services.

Last July, Microsoft announced plans to cut an additional 2,850 jobs over the year, largely related to its exiting the smartphone business. The firm said in January that it planned to cut 700 jobs, part of the previously announced restructuring.

The Puget Sound Business Journal said last week that Microsoft will announce its new plans on July 5.

CNBC reached out to Microsoft for comment but a spokesperson was not immediately available.

Read the full report on TechCrunch.