Microsoft To Cut 18K Jobs

By Edward Cardenas

SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Microsoft announced Thursday plans to layoff up to 18,000 jobs in the next year.

About 12,500 will be professional and factory positions from Nokia Devices and Services, which Microsoft bought on April 25.

"Making these decisions to change are difficult, but necessary," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in an email posted on the company's website.

He added that Microsoft will offer severance to the employees impacted by these changes and job transition assistance.

Additionally, Microsoft will shift the Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows.