GLOBAL TECH GIANT Microsoft will lay off just under 4% of its workforce in a new round of job cuts, the company confirmed today.

The cuts will affect 9,000 of its 228,000 workers globally across the company, as it continues to make moves to trim its staff.

Microsoft employs around 4,000 people in Ireland, with a further 2,000 people employed at its subsidiary, Linkedin, which has a base in Dublin.

If the 4% cuts are applied uniformly to Ireland, around 240 people could lose their jobs.

The news comes just days after Intel announced plans to cut up to 195 jobs from its 4,900-staff Kildare plant.

A Department of Enterprise spokesperson confirmed that they had received a “collective redundancy notification” from Microsoft today – meaning that at least 30 jobs are at risk.

Collective redundancies, also known as collective dismissal, occur when an employer lays off a significant number of employees within a specific timeframe.

If a company with 300 or more staff intends to let go of at least 30 people, they must inform the Department of Enterprise.

“We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft Ireland spokesperson said.

The latest round of layoffs comes after the company slashed more than 6,000 jobs, more than 3% of its staff, in May and June in an effort to “streamline operations”.

The previous job cuts were intended to flatten the organisation “by reducing layers with fewer managers,” Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on an April earnings call.