Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to About 60,000 Employees
Seven Lights
Microsoft confirmed on Monday that it is offering voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees, a figure approaching a quarter of the company’s 223,000-person workforce and its broadest workforce action since the cost cuts of early 2025.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer, sent employees a note about the offer that was also published on the company’s website. Employees at the vice-president level and below on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom are eligible. Bloomberg reported that divisions including Xbox, Windows, Copilot and Finance are participating. Staff in data centers, sales and marketing are excluded.
“The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter,” the note reads. “This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new path.” The note added that the offer “is new for us.” The Register reported that employees who accept must leave by the end of the year.
The move marks Microsoft’s latest effort to cut costs and rework its workforce for the age of artificial intelligence. It is not the company’s first buyout program: earlier this year Microsoft offered buyouts to retirement-age employees, and more than 30 percent of the roughly 8,750 eligible workers accepted.
The news was first reported by Business Insider. Microsoft confirmed the scale to TechCrunch on Monday. Terms were described as similar to the company’s standard severance arrangements.
Because the offer is voluntary, its final cost depends on how many of the 60,000 eligible employees accept — a number Microsoft did not predict. TechCrunch estimated that between 1,800 and 3,000 employees could take the deal before the window closes on December 31. The company’s headcount stood at 223,000 as of the end of June.