Microsoft plans 10,000 job cuts, will take $1.2 billion charge

Microsoft Corp. said it plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce this year, taking steps to cope with an increasingly bleak outlook that has now bruised many of the technology industry’s biggest companies.

The company will take a $1.2 billion charge in the second quarter related to the move, it said in a blog post Wednesday. The layoffs come as the software giant said it’s seeing customers exercise caution, with some parts of the world in recession. Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings on Jan. 24.

Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said the company is seeing “customers optimize their digital spend to do more with less.”