Microsoft has begun the process of laying off thousands of its employees.

That’s according to a report by The Seattle Times, which says this round of job cuts comes as the tech giant pivots its business into more cloud-computing focused products.

The cuts are largely to jobs outside of the United States – though they do include roles at Microsoft’s Redmond HQ – and include roles in the IT departments, finance, as well as the legal teams.

Speaking to the paper, former Microsoft employee and Gartner analyst Ed Anderson described these job cuts as “enough to shock the system”.

He went on to say: “The kind of sales force that they need is, instead of showing up to renew the contract, a sales force that is thinking more strategically.”