Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to About 60,000 Employees, Roughly a Quarter of Its Workforce

MSFT on Monday opened a Voluntary Exit Offer to roughly 60,000 employees, Bloomberg reported, a figure Microsoft later confirmed to GeekWire. That is about 27% of the 223,000 people Microsoft employed full time as of June 30, according to its annual report. The offer covers participating teams in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. at level 70 and below on Microsoft's internal scale, which includes general managers and some vice-president titles but not corporate vice presidents. There is no age or tenure requirement and performance is not a factor. Employees decide by early December, and those who accept leave on Dec. 31, according to people familiar with the plan.

The 60,000 figure measures eligibility, not departures. Each business leader decides whether a team takes part, and the sales organization and some engineering and corporate groups are not participating, the company said. The package matches Microsoft's standard severance, including base pay tied to tenure and level, continued stock vesting, a fixed period of healthcare and career transition services. In a memo, Chief People Officer Amy Coleman called the program new for Microsoft and said it gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs. Microsoft told GeekWire it expects a much smaller share to accept than in its first voluntary retirement program this spring, when more than 30% of about 8,750 eligible U.S. employees took the offer and the company booked a $900m charge.

The program extends a year of workforce reshaping as Microsoft funds a costly AI infrastructure build-out while trying to keep spending efficient, CNBC reported. Microsoft cut about 4,800 jobs in July, roughly 2.1% of its workforce, including 3,200 at Xbox. The company said the offer does not replace layoffs, which remain an option depending on business conditions.

Investors get more detail soon: Microsoft reports fiscal first-quarter 2027 results after the close on October 28, with consensus EPS of $4.71. MSFT traded about 1.2% higher in early afternoon on Monday. Watch for whether management sizes the expected take-up or the cost of the program, and how it frames operating expense growth against AI capital spending.