Microsoft reportedly offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, nearly 27% of its global workforce, as it seeks to trim costs while expanding its AI infrastructure, according to Tech Startups and SiliconANGLE.

Eligibility and scope

The offer targets workers at Microsoft’s internal level 70 and below, which includes vice presidents, across the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. Some groups, such as data center, sales and marketing teams, are excluded, and participation varies by organization, according to Unite.AI and Tech Startups.

Eligible employees have until early December to decide, and those who accept will leave later that month. Their pay is reportedly comparable to Microsoft’s standard severance package, including tenure- and seniority-based payments, continued stock vesting, healthcare coverage for a limited time, and career-transition services, according to GeekWire as cited by Tech Startups and Business Insider as cited by SiliconANGLE.

The move follows a July voluntary retirement program in which about 30% of 8,750 eligible U.S. employees opted to leave, and the cut of about 4,800 positions in July, according to Tech Startups. Microsoft reported $41 billion in capital expenditures in its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2026, and projected about $175 billion for calendar 2026, according to Tech Startups. SiliconANGLE reported that the company opened 31 new data centers last quarter and plans to make its Maia chip series its main source of inference capacity.

Microsoft’s quarterly revenue reached $90 billion in the June quarter, up 18% from a year earlier, with operating income of $40.6 billion and annual revenue of $331.8 billion, according to SiliconANGLE and Tech Startups. The results suggest the company can fund its AI spending while managing costs. It continues to deploy AI across its products, including Copilot.