Microsoft plans to reduce its workforce by 18,000 over the next year and jobs at Nokia's office in San Diego are being affected.
A Microsoft official said 378 San Diego workers are being laid off. The official did not say how many jobs will remain. However, senior Microsoft executive and former Nokia CEO Stephan Elop said the office will remain open to help meet the company's U.S. goals.
The software giant aims to downsize about 14 percent of its workers, which is set to include both factory and professional jobs, but about 12,500 of the layoffs are expected to come from the Nokia mobile phone unit that Microsoft acquired three months ago, the Los Angeles Times reported. Following the merger, Microsoft grew from 99,000 to 127,000 employees.
The mass layoff aimed at cutting management layers will be the broadest in Microsoft's 39-year history, according to The Times.
The newspaper reported that the company will be forced to spend up to $1.6 billion on severance and benefit costs.
Microsoft's last mass cutback of about 5,000 jobs five years ago was due to economic conditions, The Los Angeles Times reported.
