Now that Microsoft is taking over Nokia’s device business, there are apparently a lot of people doing similar jobs. And so the company announced this morning that it plans to shed 18,000 jobs — about 14% of its total workforce — in the next 12 months.

The majority (12,500) of the axed positions will come from jobs that are Microsoft are no longer needed because of the synergies resulting from the Nokia acquisition. The company says most of the layoffs will be finished before the end of the calendar year, but it will not complete the process until summer of 2015.

“My promise to you is that we will go through this process in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible,” wrote CEO Satya Nadella, who took over the gig from Steve Ballmer earlier this year, in a memo to employees. “We will offer severance to all employees impacted by these changes, as well as job transition help in many locations, and everyone can expect to be treated with the respect they deserve for their contributions to this company.”

The job cuts seemed inevitable in the wake of the Nokia purchase, which adds more than 20,000 jobs to Microsoft’s employee total. However, the software giant does not have a history of big-number layoffs. Before today’s announcement, Microsoft’s last big staff cuts came in 2009, when it made 5,800 workers redundant.

Microsoft Cuts 18,000 Jobs as Nadella Streamlines for Cloud Era [Bloomberg]

Microsoft to Cut 18,000 Jobs [WSJ]

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