Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers as it invests more in AI
Roughly a quarter of Microsoft's workforce will be eligible for a "voluntary exit offer" as the company tries to shed workers.
Key points
- Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its global workforce.
- Eligible workers in Canada, India, the UK and the US must be at vice president level or below.
- Microsoft expects to spend $175 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026 alone, CFO Amy Hood said.
Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, or roughly one-quarter of its global workforce, as the company increases investment in artificial intelligence. The buyout program was announced on Monday and is available to eligible employees in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
Employees must be at the vice president level or below to qualify. The offer is available to mid-level workers for what Microsoft described as a limited period of time, and eligible employees will be notified by email on Monday, according to Chief People Officer Amy Coleman.
What the company said
Coleman said in a memo to employees that the offer gives eligible workers who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. The program is designed to let them leave with financial padding and career-planning resources while allowing Microsoft to save on labor costs.
Some business units are not eligible, including employees focused on data centers and those in sales and marketing, Bloomberg reported, citing a company spokesperson.
This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support
— Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer
Earlier cuts and AI spending
This is the second voluntary buyout offer Microsoft has made to workers this year. In May, the company planned to offer buyouts to about 8,750 people, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, the Associated Press reported. In July, Microsoft said it was cutting 4,800 jobs, about 2% of its global workforce, including many in its Xbox video game business.
Microsoft had 223,000 employees globally at the end of June, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings. About 27% of its workforce is eligible for the new offer, Agence France-Presse reported. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in a July earnings call that Microsoft expects to spend $175 billion on AI infrastructure, including data centers, in 2026 alone.
