Microsoft announced a major reorganization on Wednesday that will include thousands of layoffs, largely in sales.

The job cuts amount to less that 10 percent of the company’s total sales force, and most will be outside the U.S., the company said.

Reports from last week suggested this was going to happen, and that Microsoft was going to specifically focus on how it sells its cloud services product, Azure.

Microsoft’s cloud business has been booming over recent quarters — Microsoft noted Azure sales growth of 93 percent last quarter. It’s likely the company wants to do everything it can to ensure it continues to fight effectively against Amazon Cloud Services and other competing products.

“Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC. “Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others.”

CNBC’s Jon Fortt contributed to this report.

Source: Tech CNBC
Microsoft plans up to 3,000 job cuts amid sales staff overhaul to fuel cloud growth