Microsoft cuts 800 jobs, completes layoff plan

A Windows 7 specialist waits for customers at a store in Sydney, October 22, 2009.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it is cutting a further 800 jobs across its operations, on top of 5,000 jobs already eliminated under a plan to reduce costs that was announced in January.

A spokesman for the world's largest software firm said the latest job cuts are spread across the company's global operations, but about 200 are in and around its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft originally had planned to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 5 percent out of 96,000, before June 2010. The Microsoft spokesman said that plan has been expanded with the new layoffs and is now complete, well ahead of schedule.

As of October 23, Microsoft had 91,005 employees worldwide, according to its website.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)