My finance view

Microsoft may create up to 3,000 jobs as it raises investment in research and development by $1 billion this year amid a financial crisis that has also taken its toll on the software giant.

"Realignment of the company will help us reassign people and could allow us to create some 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs," Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, said on Tuesday at CeBit, Europe’s biggest technology trade fair.

Turner said while Microsoft was eliminating jobs in some areas, new opportunities would arise at the same time. He reiterated that Microsoft, under pressure to trim costs amid a global recession, would stick to its research budget this year.

Turner did not provide details on where the jobs are going to be created.

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) had announced creating about 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in January as part of its broader realignment plan for the next 18 months independent of its beefed up research and development budget bad credit car loans.

"We will invest a record $9 billion in R&D … spend a billion more than last year," Turner said, adding that Internet-based applications - so-called cloud computing - would be a major field for Microsoft’s investment.

The the current macroeconomic climate was the most challenging situation that most people had ever seen in their lifetime, Turner said.

"We believe while this may be a once-in-a-lifetime event, it may also be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create new business models," Turner said. 

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