As of November 4th, 2009, Microsoft started sending out notifications to 800 of its employees whose positions have been cut. With the latest round of layoffs, the Redmond company noted that it achieved the goals of its job reduction plan announced at the start of this year (via TechFlash). On January 22nd, no less than 1,400 Microsoft employees lost their jobs as a direct result of the measures implemented by the company in the face of the adversities brought on by the global financial crisis.

The decision to sack jobs was motivated by the company as an anti-downturn reaction, fitting into the overall plans to cut back expenses. January brought bad news for Microsoft employees as the company reacted to a consistent drop in revenue. At that time, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer indicated that 5,000 positions would be slashed over the course of the next 18 months. And while it appeared that some employees would be able to keep their positions more than others, Microsoft is now already done with the 5,000 layoffs, ahead of plan.

“Earlier this year, we announced that in order to reduce costs, increase efficiency and prioritize our focus areas, we would eliminate approximately 5,000 positions by June 2010. Today, we are eliminating around 800 positions spread across multiple businesses and locations and have completed our reduction plan sooner than we had anticipated 11 months ago. At the same time, we continue to hire in priority areas, but also understand that continuing to manage our businesses closely, as we always do, can mean additional headcount adjustments,” Microsoft revealed via PaidContent.

Company employment figures from October 2009 reveal that Microsoft is down to approximately 91,000 employees, compared to the 95,000 workers it accounted for ahead of the reduction plan coming into play, despite the fact that the software giant estimates to have cut 5,800 positions since January 2009. Still, only 4,600 people actually lost their jobs for the 5,000 positions slashed ahead of the November 4th layoffs. The difference can be explained by the fact that the company continued to create jobs, as it was moving forward with the reduction plan.