There will be quite a few Microsoft employees that won't be celebrating the public availability of Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100. This, because the Redmond company is moving forward with its plan to cut no less than 5,000 jobs announced in January 2009. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer began an e-mail addressing the troops with a reference to the global economic downturn, and indicated that May 5 marked the debut of the second phase of adapting the company’s cost structure to the economic reality (via Volker Weber). Microsoft is essentially cutting back on spending, and cutting jobs, the whole 5,000 of them by mid-2010.

“Today’s action includes positions in the United States and in a number of countries around the world. In the U.S., affected employees will be notified directly by their managers today. In other countries, local leadership teams will provide more specific information about the impact to their organizations,” Ballmer stated.

Ballmer failed to reveal the exact number of Microsoft employees that would lose their jobs today. The software giant already cut 1,400 positions in January 2009, and, at this point in time, shows all the right signs that it will go through with its plan. However, at the same time, Microsoft is also hiring people. While until June 2010, 5,000 Microsoft employees will have lost their jobs, some new 2,000 to 3,000 positions will be created.

“With this announcement, we are mostly but not all done with the planned 5,000 job eliminations by June 2010. We are moving quickly to reach this target in response to consistent feedback from our people and business groups that it’s important to make decisions and reduce uncertainty for employees as quickly as possible, and so that organizations can concentrate their efforts and resources on strategic objectives,” Ballmer added.

At the same time, in accordance with the global economic crisis, Microsoft is looking to the possibility of slashing even more jobs. “As we move forward, we will continue to closely monitor the impact of the economic downturn on the company and, if necessary, take further actions on our cost structure including additional job eliminations,” Ballmer concluded.