Companies around the world this week are announcing job cuts, amid announcements of dropping demand from sectors all across the board. Telecom giant Ericsson announced 5,000 jobs to be cut Wednesday as well as BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company announcing 6,000 job cuts. The latest to join the layoffs headlines is none other than software giant, Microsoft. The company announced Thursday that it will cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months in order to reduce its annual operating expenses and capital expenditure.

Out of the 5,000 jobs that Microsoft will cut over the next 18 months (which amounts to approximately 5.5% of its global workforce), 1,400 will be slashed immediately. As if that wasn’t enough bad news, the company also released earning reports of 47 cents per share, missing analyst’s estimates of 49 cents.

Several online forums have already seen discussions regarding the “ethics” behind these job cuts: “With Bill Gates’ estimated fortune at $58 billion, where is his solidarity with those that help him build this success?”.

Image by scobleizer under Creative Commons