Microsoft's Upcoming Restructuring May Result in Largest Layoff in History

In his latest email to all employees, Microsoft's new CEO, Satya Nadella, warned of changes and big shake-ups. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that those shake-ups could come as early as this week, and they could be monumental.

In 2009, Microsoft laid-off almost 5,800 employees in another restructuring, that one under Steve Ballmer's stead. The latest one would come under Nadella's reign and could actually exceed the 2009 number.

Nadella has inherited a company that needs to change. As stated during Day 1 of the WPC 2014, Microsoft has become unresponsive in adapting to the industry and now garners only a small piece of the overall market share in the new world. Almost admitting defeat (but not quite), the company has taken on a "Challenger Mentality" in hopes that the industry, the market, and its employees see the room for growth as a positive.

Much of the employee threshing will come from the 30,000 jobs the company added through its acquisition of Nokia's mobile device business. The addition of the Nokia handset unit took the company to a combined 127,104 employees. For a CEO intent on evolving the company into a leaner, meaner, and more efficient entity, that's just too many.

But, the Nokia division is not the only area to see cuts, supposedly. In Nadella's letter, though he said "nothing was off the table" he made thin references specifically to existing marketing and engineering groups.

Microsoft reports its fourth-quarter earnings on July 22.