Microsoft confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday that it is offering voluntary exit buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees. The move is part of the company's ongoing efforts to reduce costs and reshape its workforce for the artificial intelligence era.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer, described the program in a note to employees that was also published on the company’s website. According to the note, eligible workers are those at the vice president level and below on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom.
Bloomberg reported that divisions participating in the offer include Xbox, Windows, Copilot and Finance. The company said some roles are excluded from the program, including employees working in data centers and some sales and marketing positions.
Microsoft’s employee note stated that 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 company said eligible employees would receive an email on Monday with a link to the specific details of their Voluntary Exit Offer.
Microsoft also said the terms of the buyout will be similar to its standard severance arrangements. The internal message noted that the Voluntary Exit Offer is new for the company and that it will learn from the program while continuing to help employees focus on priority work, build new skills and, where sensible, find new roles within Microsoft.
The buyout program gives Microsoft a way to reduce headcount without the disruption of mass layoffs. Earlier this year, Microsoft offered buyouts to retirement-age employees; more than 30% of the roughly 8,750 eligible workers accepted that offer.
Microsoft’s headcount was 223,000 as of the end of June.
(The story was first reported by Business Insider and updated with confirmations from TechCrunch and details reported by Bloomberg. Microsoft published the employee note and additional information on Monday.)
