Microsoft (MSFT 3.90%) CEO Satya Nadella recently sent out a letter explaining some major news at the Windows giant, encompassing both massive layoffs and new philosophies about how the company should compete in the mobile-computing future, including being a platform on top iOS and Android.
Unfortunately, these actions are long overdue. While Microsoft has over 125,000 employees in the wake of its Nokia acquisition, the company also has a massive "shadow" job force of contractors as well. Any pivoting of company strategy means coordinating up to a quarter of a million combined employees and contractors, a bloated workforce by any measure. Nadella's need to cut jobs is really "cleaning up" what his predecessors left behind.
Also part of Nadella's strategy shift is Microsoft embracing its status as an underdog. Rather than boasting of having over 90% share of PCs, the company has begun highlighting that it has only 14% share of all computing -- which includes smartphones and tablets as well.
