Microsoft cuts 2,100 jobs in its latest round of layoffs (updated)

The new, Nadella-controlled Microsoft is already around 13,000 employees lighter than it used to be, and that number is only getting bigger. To wit: The company just confirmed to ZDNet another wave of layoffs that'll see 2,100 more employees let go as the company fights to reinvent itself. Most of the employees let go the first time around hailed from Nokia, but Microsoft hasn't said which of its teams are taking the big hits in this new round of cuts.

But why is this happening? Well, there are a few reasons. When Microsoft snapped up Nokia's devices and services business for around $7 billion, it took on some 25,000 new employees -- naturally, some of those people would be made redundant. CEO Satya Nadella's new Microsoftian vision in an open memo released in July is part of it too. To him, a leaner Microsoft is a smarter, more nimble Microsoft and he'd ultimately like to see "fewer layers of management, both top down and sideways, to accelerate the flow of information and decision making." When all is said and done, Nadella said the company would cut a total of about 18,000 jobs -- this next wave of layoffs is getting him awfully close to that goal, but you'd be wise to expect at least one more batch to make headlines in a few months.

UPDATE: We're starting to get a better sense of how these layoffs break down. ZDNet reports that 747 of the employees were in Washington, while another 160 were in California. 50 of the people in that latter category previously made up Microsoft's Silicon Valley Research arm, which has been all but shuttered at this point.