Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to 60,000 Employees, Keeps Layoffs on the Table

Microsoft announced a new voluntary exit offer on Monday, October 26. About 60,000 employees are eligible, more than a quarter of the workforce. According to media reports, the move is part of an efficiency push as the company spends tens of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure.

What Microsoft is offering

The program is time-limited and open to employees up to level 70 inclusive. According to Calcalist Tech, that covers general managers and some employees with vice president titles, but not corporate vice presidents. There is no age, tenure or performance criterion.

The package matches Microsoft's standard severance: base pay depending on tenure and level, continued stock vesting, healthcare coverage for a fixed period and career-transition support. Calcalist Tech notes that it does not include the extended healthcare coverage that made the spring retirement program more attractive. Eligible employees were to receive the details by email.

Heads of business units decide whether their teams participate, based on priorities, customer commitments and staffing needs. Calcalist Tech reports that sales, some engineering teams and corporate functions are excluded from the offer.

Layoffs still possible

According to the reports, Microsoft says voluntary exits do not replace layoffs, which remain part of its approach depending on business conditions. The company has not said how many employees it expects to take the offer. Calcalist Tech says it anticipates participation well below the roughly 30 percent seen in the spring program, though that program was aimed at a smaller group of longer-serving US employees.

Fox Business, citing Reuters, recalls that in July Microsoft announced cuts of about 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1 percent of its global workforce, as it overhauled its Xbox division. Calcalist Tech adds that several hundred more positions were eliminated in September, following more than 15,000 in 2025.

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. - Amy Coleman, Microsoft's executive vice president and chief people officer, in a memo to employees

The backdrop: AI costs

Fox Business notes that Microsoft and other large tech companies face heavy spending on data centers and chips for training models, which has led to cost cuts elsewhere. CNBC frames the program as part of an efficiency drive during a rapid AI infrastructure build-out. In the coverage cited here, Microsoft itself does not directly attribute the program to artificial intelligence.

What it means

The offer does not cover Poland, but it shows how a major player is balancing AI spending against labor costs. For Polish teams working with Microsoft's US units, it is a signal that the restructuring is continuing in stages. The final scale will become clear from how many people decide to leave by early December.