Microsoft to cut 5000 jobs as the reccession continues

While Google was bucking the trend yesterday, Steve Ballmer was announcing the shedding of 5000 jobs at the software giant. Of this figure, 1,400 will be immediate with the rest over an 18 month period.

All this being announced less than seven months since the departure of  founder Bill Gates from the day to day running of the company.

Heather Bellini, a technology analyst at UBS in New York, told Bloomberg News that Microsoft would get a poor hearing from investors unless it acted quickly to trim its cost base in response to one of the worst recessions since the Second World War.
“I don’t care if they get rid of contractors, full-time employees, facilities, health benefits – just get the costs out,” she said.

The Seattle-based software multinational disappointed Wall Street with an 11% slump in quarterly profits to $4.17bn (£3bn).

The company’s shares slumped 8% to $17.77 within minutes of the start of trading on New York’s Nasdaq exchange, hitting their lowest level since 1998.