This means that 2.1 percent of the workforce will disappear. The Xbox division will lose 3,200 positions, about a fifth of its staff, CNBC reports.
As early as Monday, 1,600 jobs will go at the division, while the remaining measures will be implemented next year.
"I am aware that a restructuring spanning a year brings additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to implement all the necessary changes in a single day," Asha Sharma, the division's head, wrote in an email to employees on Monday.
Microsoft's stock fell 1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday and has lost 20 percent so far this year.
