Microsoft is facing more pressure in China. Five days after a report surfaced that Chinese officials were investigating Microsoft’s offices in the country, protests reportedly have erupted in the country against Microsoft over layoffs associated with the acquisition of Nokia’s phone business.
According to Reuters, hundreds of protesters held banners and shouted “Microsoft’s hostile takeover and violent layoffs” at a Microsoft operated Beijing research center and factory.
It’s unclear what impact the layoffs will have on Microsoft’s workforce in China.
Microsoft announced layoffs of 18,000 employees last month, including 12,500 at the newly-acquired Nokia unit. The 14 percent cutback marks the largest in Microsoft’s history, and one of the biggest decision yet for CEO Satya Nadella.
In Finland, where Nokia was based, layoffs are hitting the country hard. Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb called the cuts — estimated to be about 1,100 of the company’s 4,700 workers in the country — “extremely regrettable.”
Microsoft completed it $7 billion purchase of Nokia in April. At the time, Nadella said that Nokia’s phone business and mobile capabilities would help “advance our transformation.”
“Together with our partners, we remain focused on delivering innovation more rapidly in our mobile-first, cloud-first world,” he said.
