Microsoft to cut thousands of jobs

Microsoft plans to cut thousands of jobs, with a majority of them outside the United States, the company has confirmed.

The technology giant is undergoing a reorganisation that impacts its sales and marketing teams, as it doubles down on its fast-growing cloud business.

Microsoft's shares were down 0.7 percent at US$68.63 on Thursday.

The company employed about 120,000 people globally as of March 31, with sales and marketing teams accounting for about 19 percent of the workforce, according to the company's website. 

It is not confirming a specific number of job cuts. CNBC reported 3000 jobs from sales and marketing will go.

"Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

"Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others."

Microsoft has notified some employees about the reductions, a source said. However, in some geographies, the company plans to notify employees that their jobs are under consideration, the source added.

Since taking over as chief executive in 2014, Satya Nadella has sharpened the company's focus on its cloud computing unit to counter a prolonged slowdown in the PC market.