Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 employees, 27% of workforce

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees, or about 27% of its workforce, in a sweeping cost shift tied to its AI buildout. Chief people officer Amy Coleman announced the program in a Monday memo, saying eligible employees include senior leaders up to vice presidents. "This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support," Coleman wrote in a memo Microsoft published on its blog.

The buyouts are the latest lever in CEO Satya Nadella's drive to fund AI data centers while trimming headcount. Microsoft employed about 223,000 people at the end of June, down 5,000 from the same period in 2025. Employees who take the offer get severance based on tenure, with U.S. workers receiving at least eight weeks' pay, continued stock vesting, health care, and career services. Acceptance deadlines start in the first week of December in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and India, with participants leaving on Dec. 31.

This is not Microsoft's first buyout. In April, the company offered a similar voluntary program to long-tenured employees, its first such arrangement. At the time, Coleman said Microsoft was aiming to move faster and simplify operations. The new, broader offer extends that logic to senior leadership, a sign that cost discipline is now reaching the top of the org chart.

The offer lands amid a wave of executive departures. Ryan Roslansky, an executive vice president who also served as LinkedIn CEO, recently announced his exit, as did chief communications officer Frank X. Shaw. Earlier this year, gaming chief Phil Spencer and Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of experiences and devices, retired. Nadella has been reshaping leadership as he pushes to win enterprise and cloud AI markets.

Microsoft is not alone. Google offered buyouts to select employees in June, and Amazon has cut jobs in divisions such as its Stores unit after laying off about 30,000 workers between late 2025 and early this year. Big tech's AI spending boom is forcing a trade-off: capital goes to data centers, so labor costs get scrutinized. Microsoft remains one of the industry's top spenders, with $41 billion in capital expenditures in the quarter ending June and a projected $145.3 billion in total spending for fiscal 2026.

The company has already cut thousands of roles. In July, Microsoft cut about 4,800 jobs, following more than 15,000 layoffs in 2025. Many of the recent cuts have been centered in its struggling Xbox unit, which has dragged on overall financial performance. The buyout program, by contrast, is voluntary and aimed at employees thinking about leaving, which could soften the cultural blow even as it reduces payroll.

How many will take the offer? A Microsoft spokesperson pointed to similar programs at other major tech companies, which saw 3% to 5% uptake. If Microsoft lands in that range, that would mean roughly 1,800 to 3,000 departures, though the company did not provide a projection. The announcement comes just days before Microsoft reports first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Its shares are up about 25% over the past six months, suggesting investors are comfortable with the trade-off so far. For other firms weighing AI-driven restructurings, the message is clear: voluntary exits can reshape headcount while keeping morale and share price intact.