Microsoft Offers Buyouts to About 60,000 Employees
Microsoft is offering a time-limited buyout to about 60,000 employees, roughly 25 percent of its total workforce, according to a company spokesperson. The offer, called the Voluntary Exit Offer, was announced on 26 October 2026.
It gives eligible staff the chance to leave the company with financial support and career planning resources. Microsoft's chief people officer, Amy Coleman, told staff about the offer. Eligible employees will receive an email with the details.
Only some workers qualify. The offer is limited to employees at level 70 and below in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Microsoft says its terms are similar to its existing severance packages, and eligible workers have until early December to decide.
Not every part of the company is taking part. Microsoft said some organisations are providing the offer and some are not. Participation depends on business priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs. Economic Times reported that the offer touches several divisions, including AI experiences, Copilot and finance.
The offer lands in the middle of a difficult year for Microsoft's games business. Eurogamer reported that Xbox, the company's games division, carried out a reset earlier in 2026. That reset included a planned 3,200 job cuts and an internal restructuring of its first-party studios, the game studios that Microsoft owns.
Buyouts are not new at Microsoft. In April 2026, the company planned its first voluntary buyout programme for US staff. BNN Bloomberg reported at the time that offers would go out in early May to about 8,750 people, or seven percent of the US workforce.
This round is much wider. In its official blog post, titled "Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer", Microsoft said the programme gives employees who may be thinking about a future outside the company a way to make that move now, with support.
For employees, the next step is the email. For everyone else, the numbers are the story: about 60,000 people, a deadline in early December, and a company that has said it will decide case by case where the offer applies.
