Microsoft Corp. said it eliminated 1,400 jobs Thursday and will slash up to 5,000 jobs in six departments over the next 18 months. The news follows the Redmond, Wash.-based software giants 11 pecent decline in second-quarter net income. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported $4.2 billion in net income for the quarter. Microsoft has 1,865 employees in Texas and 180 of those are in Houston, according to a company spokeswoman. �Today�s actions are the result of our need to improve efficiency and rebalance resources against our priorities, but it is not a decision we take lightly,� the spokeswoman said in an e-mail statement. �We expect that the global economic environment will continue to be challenging and we will continue to evaluate our business to ensure that our investments are aligned to current and future revenue opportunities. �We continue to believe in the strength of the company, our ability to continue delivering value to customers and our approach to long-term growth. The majority of today�s job eliminations are in Redmond, consistent with the high concentration of employees based at our headquarters in the Seattle area. Some positions in Texas are included in these immediate eliminations, and represent a relatively small proportion of our team here.� The company plans to cut its work force in the research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources and information technology departments. Microsoft expects the layoffs to reduce operating expenses by about $1.5 billion.