40 to 50 employees cut at Microsoft Fargo

FARGO — Possibly 40 to 50 Microsoft Fargo employees found out when they went to work on Thursday that they no longer had a job — the latest in a string of job cuts at major Fargo-area employers.

Microsoft Fargo said it cut “a very small percentage” of its work force as part of 1,400 companywide job cuts Microsoft Corp. announced on Thursday, a company spokeswoman told The Forum.

Beth Jordan, Microsoft spokeswoman, said she could not release the number of local jobs cut, nor could she release information about the positions.

But 40 to 50 Microsoft Fargo employees may have received layoff notices, said several anonymous sources, including laid-off employees who did not want to give their names because they hope to find other jobs within the company.

Microsoft Fargo has about 1,017 employees, a number that doesn’t include vendor staff.

Microsoft Corp. announced it will cut an additional 3,600 jobs companywide over the next 18 months because of deteriorating global economic conditions.

Jordan could not say if there will be more job cuts at Microsoft Fargo. She said most of the cuts will be at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., facility, where the company is based.

Microsoft also plans to cut facility costs, but Jordan does not know how it will affect Microsoft Fargo’s 185,000-square-foot building and expansion project.

A spokeswoman for the construction firm working on the expansion, however, said, “Everything is full-steam ahead.”

Noelle Hawton of Tunheim Partners, a Bloomington, Minn., public relations firm that represents JE Dunn Construction North Central of Eden Prairie, Minn., said construction is continuing as planned.

Employees were let go before a 10 a.m. conference call and webcast detailing company performance, Jordan said.

Severance benefits will be available, said Katie Hasbargen, Microsoft Fargo spokeswoman.

“We’re certainly in the midst of once-in-a-lifetime economic conditions,” Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer said during the conference call. “Neither the consumer nor the business side of the technology industry is immune.”

There will be no pay raises in the next fiscal year, Chris Liddell, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said during the call.

Microsoft is continuing with some of its traditional compensation bonuses as a way to make sure employees are motivated to perform, Jordan said.

“You’ll see those pools shrink, though,” she said.

Microsoft Corp. plans to significantly reduce vendor and contingent staff expenses, Liddell said, but Jordan said there is no word on vendor or contractor staff cuts in Fargo. As of November, Microsoft Fargo had 500 vendor staff.

Microsoft employed 94,286 people worldwide as of Sept. 30. That included 56,654 workers in the United States, according to the company’s Web site.

Microsoft Corp. said profit slipped to $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, from year-ago earnings of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share. It said total revenue edged up 2 percent to $16.63 billion, as server, tools and entertainment sales helped offset an 8 percent drop in client revenue.

Microsoft said the initiatives will reduce annual operating expenses by $1.5 billion and reduce fiscal year 2009 capital expenditures by $700 million.

Microsoft continues to hire as needed. Every position is closely evaluated, Jordan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Forum and The Jamestown Sun are both owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: fargo, news, microsoft, economy, jobs, layoffs