Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Employees

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to up to 60,000 employees across the US, UK, Canada, and India. Chief people officer Amy Coleman says the program gives staff "the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources," as the company looks to trim its workforce without launching another round of layoffs.

Microsoft employs roughly 223,000 people. According to sources cited by The Verge, the offer reaches a wide range of teams, including AI experiences, Copilot, CoreAI, Windows + Devices, Xbox, and the finance and human resources departments. The cloud + AI, MicrosoftAI, and corporate, external, and legal affairs groups are participating only partially. The marketing, commercial business, discovery and quantum, and security teams are left out.

The offer comes just months after Microsoft laid off 4,800 workers, a move that mostly hit its Xbox and commercial sales teams. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is also planning new rounds of layoffs, Fortune reports.

Not a retirement plan

This offer differs from the voluntary retirement program the company ran earlier this year, which was available to only about 9,000 people — US employees at a certain level whose combined age and years of service added up to 70 or more. This time, Microsoft stresses in an internal note, the offer is not based on age, length of service, or performance.

"The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us," Coleman writes to employees. "We'll learn from it." There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee, she adds, as the company tries to balance differing business needs with opportunities for its own people to grow.

Microsoft also notes it may consider a future voluntary exit offer "where there is a business and workforce need."

Source: The Verge