Microsoft offers buyouts to up to 60,000 employees

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to up to 60,000 employees across the US, UK, Canada, and India. The offer, described by chief people officer Amy Coleman as a way to leave with financial support and career planning resources, is intended to trim staff without another round of layoffs. The offer reaches more of Microsoft’s roughly 223,000 employees, with eligibility varying by team.

Which teams are included

Sources familiar with the situation tell The Verge that staffers across Microsoft are eligible, including those on its AI experiences, Copilot, CoreAI, Windows + Devices, Xbox, finance, and human resources teams. Microsoft’s cloud + AI, MicrosoftAI teams, and corporate, external, and legal affairs are partially participating. Employees on Microsoft’s marketing, commercial business, discovery and quantum, and security teams are not participating.

Previous cuts and earlier programs

The voluntary exit offers come months after Microsoft laid off 4,800 employees, a move that primarily impacted its Xbox and commercial sales teams. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is also planning new rounds of layoffs, according to a report from Fortune. This voluntary exit offer does not target Microsoft’s commercial sales teams. It is also very different from the previous voluntary retirement program that the company offered long-serving employees earlier this year, which was only available to around 9,000 employees. That earlier program was for US employees at a certain employee level whose combined years of service and age totaled 70 or more.

Company message to employees

In a memo to employees, Coleman writes that the Voluntary Exit Offer is new for the company and that Microsoft will learn from it. She also says the company will keep helping people focus on work that matters most, build new skills, and find new opportunities across Microsoft where it makes sense. Coleman adds that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or employee, and that these are a few ways to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for people to grow and contribute.

Sources: The Verge