More Microsoft Layoffs

TechFlash reports: We're hearing from unofficial but reliable sources tonight that Microsoft is poised to make additional job cuts this week, with the affected employees expected to be notified as early as Wednesday morning.

This latest round of layoffs is expected to be noticeably smaller than the first two—numbering in the hundreds but totaling less than 1,000 overall. Some portion of the new cuts will serve as the final phase of the company's original plan, announced in January of this year, to cut up to 5,000 jobs over 18 months. However, the new layoffs are expected to take the company beyond the original plan, as well.

Those extra cuts reflect the company's ongoing need to adjust to the realities of the new economy. Reorganizations are common inside the company. In the past, people who lost their jobs as part of those changes were often able to find other positions inside the company.

This time around, there aren't enough of those open jobs available. While Microsoft has continued to hire in some areas, cushioning the effect of the job cuts, the company isn't expanding at nearly the rate that it has in the past. That means there are fewer open positions for employees cut loose by reorganizations, which appears to be the major factor contributing to the additional job cuts.