Big job cuts have been announced by Microsoft. The world’s largest software maker said it was eliminating up to 18,000 positions over the next year.

That is 14 percent of its total workforce and represents the deepest cuts made during its near 40-year history

Around 12,500 of the layoffs are from the integration of its recent acquisition – mobile phone handset maker Nokia – which will see its workforce halved.

Chief executive Satya Nadella pledged to streamline the business and unify its software and hardware efforts when he got the job five months ago.

Nadella’s moves are designed to help Microsoft shift from being a primarily software-focused company to one that sells online services, apps and devices it hopes will make people and businesses more productive.

The CEO needs to make Microsoft a stronger competitor to Google and Apple, which dominate the new era of mobile-centric computing.

The Nokia-related cuts were widely expected. Microsoft said when it struck that deal that it would cut $600 million (443 million euros) per year in costs within 18 months of closing the deal.

Microsoft did not detail exactly where the remaining jobs would be cut, but said the first wave of layoffs would affect 1,351 jobs in the Seattle area.

The company said it expects to take pretax charges of $1.1 billion (812 million euros) to $1.6 billion (1.18 billion euros) over the next four quarters to account for the costs of the layoffs.

with Reuters