Microsoft announced this afternoon that it is to cut up to 5,000 jobs worldwide, including what it said was a "small number" of jobs in Ireland after posting worse than expected profits.
The software maker, which employs nearly 2,000 people in Ireland including about 700 people on contract, posted a profit of $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter ended December 31st, versus a profit of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents, a year earlier.
To cut costs, Microsoft said it will eliminate up to 5,000 jobs in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources and information technology over the next 18 months, including 1,400 jobs today.
In a statement, Microsoft said: "We can confirm that a small number of positions in Ireland are included in the immediate job elimination plans announced by the company today. While these positions represent a small proportion of our team in Ireland, our first priority today is to help and support those colleagues through this difficult transition."
It did not immediately clarify how many posts will be made redundant but it is understood to be about 20.
Microsoft said it was "focused on the need to improve efficiency and rebalance resources against our priorities".
"We expect that the global economic environment will continue to be challenging and we will continue to evaluate our business to ensure that our investments are aligned to current and future revenue opportunities. We believe in the strength of the company, our ability to continue delivering value to customers and our approach to long-term growth."
The company said it remained committed to its business here, which has been operating since 1985.
Microsoft has three divisions here: Microsoft EMEA Operations Centre (EOC), Microsoft European Development Centre (EDC) and Microsoft Sales, Marketing & Services Group (SMSG), which support Microsoft's business across Ireland, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The various functions carried out by the Microsoft divisions here include research and development, engineering, localisation, finance, billing, logistics, supply chain management and ocal sales and marketing.