When Microsoft announced plans in January to lay off 5,000 workers over 18 months, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, fired off a letter questioning Microsoft about who the company was planning to cut. Grassley wanted to know whether Microsoft -- which has been lobbying Congress for years to raise the cap on H-1B visas -- would cut foreign workers before Americans. Grassley finally got a reply from Microsoft yesterday.Apparently, when it comes to layoffs, Microsoft is an equal opportunity terminator. No one is being targeted or exempt from the layoffs based on citizenship status or ethnicity.

While all Microsoft's job reduction details haven't yet been worked out, "we do know that the 5,000 positions that will be eliminated will include jobs in marketing, sales, finance, legal and corporate affairs, HR, R&D, and IT," said Microsoft general counsel Bradford Smith in the reply letter to Grassley. Smith's response was on behalf of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, to whom Grassley addressed his letter.

Those cuts will take place "in a large number of countries," affecting non-Americans outside the United States, and Americans and visa-holders inside the U.S., says Smith. The company already laid off 1,400 workers in January, and the bulk of those cuts -- 800 jobs -- were in the Puget Sound region of Microsoft's home state, Washington, he told Grassley.

Smith added:

"As I'm sure you'd expect, we take care to make all employment decisions -- including the termination of employment for any individual -- in a manner that complies with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, we do not base compensation decisions in the U.S. on an employee's citizenship."

Regarding Grassley's inquiry about whether Microsoft planned to retain H-1B visa workers after the layoffs, Smith responded that Microsoft's "ability to tap into the world's best minds has long been essential in its success." In addition, H-1B visa workers have always accounted for less than 15% of Microsoft's workforce, said Smith. Yet, the "small percentage" of Microsoft workers who are H-1B visa holders "have long made crucial contributions to Microsoft's innovation successes and to our ability to create jobs in this country."

Speaking of creating jobs, Smith also explained to Grassley that while Microsoft is eliminating 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, it's also expecting to add 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs during that same time frame.

Further attempting to blunt the blow of the 5,000 layoffs, Smith also mentioned to Grassley the various educational and training programs that Microsoft is leading for U.S. public schools, universities, and government. That includes a new program called Elevate America, which Smith says will provide technology training to 2 million people in the U.S. over the next three years.

While Grassley was patient, waiting about six weeks for Microsoft's reply, he didn't seem overly impressed with the company's answers.

In a statement, Grassley says:

"I appreciate Microsoft's response and while I'm happy to learn of the company's efforts to boost science and technology initiatives in both American secondary and post-secondary schools, I'm still left without much information about how Microsoft is ensuring American workers are being protected or specifics of its H-1B hiring practices. I'm interested in learning more details."

To be continued? In the meantime, tell us what you think about all this.

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