Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. announced today that it would finally be doing what most analysts expected - a job cut, in fact, one of the first job cuts the company has ever produced: 5,000 jobs, or more than 5 per cent of it’s 95,000 employees.

This is an international cut, not one specific to the United States, somewhat easing the short-term direct blow to the economy that job cuts definitely do have, however, Redmond expects to suffer in the short run; especially, considering the move follows an 11 per cent drop in Microsoft’s profit for the fourth quarter - another rarely seen situation for the software giant.

The company has historically been one of the most stable within the technology realm, as such job cuts and profit losses are hugely indicative of the international economic recession being seen.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 105 points today, while the NASDAQ, a purely technology index, lost nearly 3 per cent - likely resulting from the news.

Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, said regarding the issue, “We’re certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions. The perspective I would bring is not one of recession. Rather, the economy is resetting to lower level of business and consumer spending based largely on the reduced leverage in economy.”

Microsoft holds well over $20 billion U.S. in liquidity - a number which makes some people joke that Microsoft should take over the role that banks cannot provide.

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