As Microsoft continues to prepare for the upcoming release of its Windows 7 operating system, the Redmond-based company has announced its most recent round of scheduled job layoffs.

"As we move forward, we will continue to closely monitor the impact of the economic downturn on the company and if necessary, take further actions on our cost structure, including additional job eliminations," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees via e-mail.

However, all affected employees were given severance packages, and some of them will be rehired as Microsoft intends to create between 2,000 and 3,000 new jobs over the next 12 months in an effort to shift its business focus.

The company originally announced plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs by June 2010, and appears to be living up to its promise.  More job cuts are expected in the future, but Microsoft officials said it's almost done cutting jobs.

Microsoft recently posted its first quarterly revenue decline in its history as a public company, which shocked many financial analysts.  As consumers are less willing to go out and purchase new PCs and notebooks, Microsoft's OS business unit has greatly suffered, with the company also struggling to battle back against the rising popularity of netbooks.

Silicon Valley has suffered through a turbulent global economy, with many tech companies releasing employees.  Most tech companies, however, that have been forced to cut jobs will likely not re-hire employees at a later time.