Barely hours after making it latest operating system, Windows 10, available for download in Nigeria and 189 other countries, Microsoft on Thursday announced the sack of 34 (85%) of the 40 employees in the phone division of its Nigerian office.
Although, Windows 10 is now available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems or with new personal computers and tablets, industry experts said it would leave about 15 million Nigerian payments cards prone to hacking.
The downsizing comes as part of the computer giant’s decision to streamline its phone division globally.
The Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft, Satya Nadella, had said in a memo to all Nigerian employees in late June that the company needed to make some “tough choices” in areas that were not working, and had stated that 7,800 jobs would be cut from the mobile division working on Windows Phone hardware.
According to him, the company will also write off $7.6bn from the acquisition of Nokia, despite it only paying $7.2bn for the company in 2014.
“The future prospects for the phone hardware segment were below original expectations due to the new plans,” he added.
