DHAKA: In a Thursday morning letter to his employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company would be cutting 18,000 jobs in the next year.

"We are moving now to start reducing the first 13,000 positions, and the vast majority of employees whose jobs will be eliminated will be notified over the next six months," Nadella wrote.

"It's important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we are adding roles in certain other strategic areas."

Microsoft had 127,000 employees as of June 5, which would mean the company will see a headcount reduction of over 14 percent.

On Wednesday, a Finnish daily, quoting anonymous sources, reported that Microsoft is planning to cut 1,000 jobs in Finland from its mobile phone unit.

Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat said Microsoft planned to close a former Nokia research and development unit in Oulu, northern Finland.

Some 25,000 Nokia workers moved this spring to Microsoft with the cellphone unit acquisition, 4,700 of them in Finland. Globally, Microsoft's headcount far exceeds rivals Apple and Google.

Wall Street had been expecting Chief Executive Satya Nadella to make some cuts. News agency Bloomberg said on Monday that total job cuts could be the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 jobs lost in 2009.

BDST: 1913 HRS, JUL 17, 2014