Microsoft to cut 18,000 jobs -- but Xbox will only see 'limited change'

As Microsoft announced today that it will cut 18,000 jobs at the company during the next year, vice president Stephen Elop said that the company will now focus its efforts on its phones, Surface, and Xbox businesses. Microsoft expects to incur pre-tax charges of up to $1.6 billion over the next 12 months, as it pays severance and charges to the thousands of employees it plans to let go. But it sounds like the Xbox division will remain fairly intact. In an open letter to employees, Elop said that building on its current strengths, including its Xbox brand, is now essential. "More broadly across the Devices team, we will continue our efforts to bring iconic tablets to market in ways that complement our OEM partners, power the next generation of meetings & collaboration devices and thoughtfully expand Windows with new interaction models," says Elop. "With a set of changes already implemented earlier this year in these teams, this means there will be limited change for the Surface, Xbox hardware, PPI/meetings or next generation teams." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also noted that the Nokia Devices and Services division is to be better integrated into Microsoft as a whole.