More Microsoft Layoffs?

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it is laying off more workers, almost completing its plan to cut 5,000 jobs by June 2010, and left the door open for yet more job cuts.

“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 chief executive Steve Ballmer said in an e-mail to employees on Tuesday.

In January, against a backdrop of falling computer sales and a U.S. recession, Microsoft announced a plan to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 5 percent of its 96,000 staff, over 18 months, in an attempt to save $1.5 billion a year.

Microsoft laid off some workers immediately in January and said on Tuesday that those cuts were “mostly but not all done.”