Microsoft offers to buy out a quarter of its workforce
Microsoft announced a voluntary exit offer (VEO) to approximately 60,000 eligible employees globally, representing about 25 percent of its workforce. Eligible employees are at level 70 or below across selected business units in the US, India, Canada, and UK. The move follows earlier workforce reductions, including an April 2026 voluntary retirement package and July layoffs of 3,200 Xbox staff. The company attributes the offer to business priorities and customer commitments rather than citing AI spending directly, though it has undertaken major investments in AI infrastructure and data centers.
Key points
- ~60,000 employees (~25% of workforce) offered voluntary buyouts
- Eligible across US, India, Canada, UK in select divisions
- Second voluntary reduction in 2026; follows prior April package and July Xbox layoffs
- Tied to cost management amid AI and data-center spending
Summary and key points written by AI from the headline and a short excerpt, so they can be incomplete or wrong. Ars Technica did the reporting; read the original for the full story.
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