REDMOND, WA—Tech giant Microsoft Corp. beganlaying off 13,000 workers worldwide Thursday, the first round of aplanned 18,000 job cuts over the next 12 months.The 14% reduction will be the largest in the company's history. Acompany spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that about 1,350 of the layoffswill occur in the Puget Sound region, or about 3%of the 43,000 employees based at or near Microsoft's Redmond, WAheadquarters.

In a company-wide email Thursday to employees, Microsoft CEOSatya Nandella wrote, “The first step to buildingthe right organization for our ambitions is to realign ourworkforce.” Of the worldwide total, the recently acquiredNokia Devices and Services arm is expected toaccount for about 12,500 jobs, “comprising both professional andfactory workers.”

With that as the backdrop, Stephen Elop,formerly Nokia's CEO and now EVP of Microsoft Device Group, said inan email to group employees that the company would concentratefuture development of high-end Lumia devices in Salo, Finland,while the budget priced phones will be developed in Tampere,Finland. Meanwhile, the company will “ramp down engineering work”in Oulu Finland, where some of the software for Nokia's Asha phoneline was developed.