Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers, a quarter of its staff

Microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce. A voluntary package means people can choose to leave with a payout. Nobody is forced out. It is the company's second such program this year.

Who is included

The offer covers employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the UK, up to vice president level. Xbox, Windows, Copilot and Finance are fully included. Data centers, sales, cybersecurity and quantum computing are left out. Those areas are mostly important to Microsoft's AI strategy.

Chief People Officer Amy Coleman wrote in a memo that the packages are "another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs." A spokesperson said Microsoft wants employees committed to tackling its toughest problems.

The bigger picture

Earlier this year, Microsoft offered buyouts to 8,750 U.S. employees in May and cut 4,800 jobs in July. Its headcount is still about 223,000, roughly where it was in 2022, despite strong revenue growth.

Meanwhile, CFO Amy Hood says Microsoft plans to spend about $170 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. That is down slightly from an original plan of $175 billion.

What is not known yet: the terms of the packages, and how many of the 60,000 will accept.