Microsoft is consolidating its operations in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., shifting employees around and shedding some of its extra space in those regional satellite offices. However, the company says it plans to maintain a presence in both cities.
The changes come as a new building goes up on the company’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters campus, in the former Safeco Insurance complex, which Microsoft acquired in 2006. Scheduled for completion in August, the new Building 83 will accommodate as many as 1,100 employees from other buildings in the region.
Microsoft confirmed today that it plans to vacate seven floors at the Bravern complex in Bellevue, offering them for sublease. It will do the same with another floor at its satellite location in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.
The moves were first reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
The company said in a statement, “Starting in May, much of our workforce began moving within the City Center, Bravern 1 and Bravern 2 and South Lake Union buildings. This is a reorganization of our teams in these locations. With the move we expect to create seven floors of open space in Bravern 1 and in time we intend to sublease those seven floors. Our employees at Lincoln Square are not a part of this reorganization.”
Microsoft has cut 18,000 jobs over the past 18 months, but more than 12,000 of those cuts were related to its Nokia smartphone acquisition, and many were in other parts of the world. Microsoft employs 41,728 in the Seattle region as of March, down from about 43,000 in October 2013. The company currently employs more than 118,000 worldwide.
