SEATTLE (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, began a round of about 800 job cuts yesterday, exceeding the 5,000 total announced this year as part of its first-ever companywide firings.

When completed, Microsoft will have eliminated about 5,800 jobs as part of the programme, Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman, said in an interview. The latest reductions mark the end of the programme announced on January 22, after chief executive officer Steve Ballmer said the company faced the most challenging economy in its history.

The firings, in addition to cuts in travel, entertainment and vendor expenses, have helped Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft save more money than it originally predicted this year.

Two weeks ago, the company said it exceeded analysts' profit estimates last quarter and boosted its cost reduction target for the year ending June 30.

Today's reductions will be broadly distributed across divisions and regions, Gellos said.

Microsoft cut the first 1,400 positions on January 22, followed by a larger reduction in May. At that point, the company said it was almost finished with the planned cuts, though could eliminate more jobs than initially announced.

Microsoft rose 53 cents to $28.06 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 44 percent this year.

The cuts were previously reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal's TechFlash blog.