Microsoft Restructures Phone Business, Expands Bing

By Edward Cardenas

SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Microsoft announced that it will layoff 7,800 employees as it looks to expand the reach of the Bing search engine.

Most of the job cuts will be in the phone business, the company stated.

"We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a release. "In the near-term, we'll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility."

The announcement comes nearly one year after Microsoft cut 18,000 jobs following the acquisition of Nokia Devices and Services.

As the tech company looks to trim its workforce, it recently announced that its Bing search engine will be used for search and search advertising across the AOL portfolio of sites, Microsoft announced.

"Microsoft and AOL share a commitment to customer service and collaboration, and together we will create a powerhouse media offering with a remarkable set of differentiated assets," Microsoft wrote in a release about the 10-year agreement.

AOL previously used Google to power its search engine.