Report: Microsoft considers major job cuts

Microsoft may start a "significant" round of layoffs as early as next week, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday.

Citing unnamed sources it claimed were familiar with Microsoft's plans, the newspaper said the company is considering "significant work force reductions" across multiple divisions, but did not specify the number of workers who would be affected.

And the Journal hedged its bets somewhat. "Plans for the cutbacks are still in flux and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods of reining in costs," the paper reported.

If Microsoft does announce layoffs, it would join other big-name technology companies that have recently scaled back employee head-counts, including Google Inc. and Oracle Corp. The former said today that it is laying off 100 recruiters and closing engineering offices in Texas, Norway and Sweden, while the latter reportedly made "major" cuts in its workforce last week , with more in the offing.

Rumors of possible layoffs at Microsoft have been circulating for weeks, with the number 15,000 most often cited as a target for any reduction.

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