Microsoft may create up to 3,000 jobs as it raises investment in research and development by $1 billion this year.

“Realignment of the company will help us reassign people, and could allow us to create some 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs,” CFO Kevin Turner told attendees 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.

“We will invest a record $9 billion in R&D … spend a billion more than last year,” Turner said, adding Internet-based applications will be a major field for Microsoft’s investment.