"I can confirm we're eliminating 800 jobs today," Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos told WSJ.  "That's part of the larger program we announced in January." The positions being eliminated from Wednesday will affect staff internationally and in a range of business units, he said, without providing further detail."

Microsoft was forced to cut near 6.3% of its workforce as the global economy worsened, with the job cuts projected to save $1.5 billion in 2010.  In January, the company laid off 1,200 employees, and then slashed 3,000 jobs four months later, the company disclosed.

One surprise layoff has to be Don Dodge, former Microsoft Emerging Business Team director, who disclosed in his blog that the layoff "was a total surprise to me."

After the final expected round of job cuts, the company still has nearly 88,000 employees worldwide.  Despite the job cuts, Microsoft continues hiring in departments it believes will be utilized more frequently in the future.

The job cuts have proven beneficial to Microsoft, as the company beat both first quarter earnings and revenue -- in part to the job cuts -- though revenue in Windows and Windows Live both declined.