Microsoft laid a big one on their investors this morning by announcing that they’d be laying off up to 5,000 of their total 94,000 employees in sales, finance, research, and technology positions. 1,400 of those layoffs are taking place today, and the rest will be carried out over the next 18 months. The decision to perform the layoffs came after some grim second quarter projections, the figures of which posted a net income of $4.17 billion, 11% lower than last year’s second quarter earnings of $4.71 billion.

“We are planning for economic uncertainty to continue through the remainder of the fiscal year, almost certainly leading to lower revenue and earnings for the second half relative to the previous year,” said Christopher P. Liddell, the company’s chief financial officer.

Blaming market uncertainty, Microsoft declined to issue a revenue or earnings forecast for the rest of its fiscal year.

And thus begins the end of the world.

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