Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to staff in four countries; about 60,000 eligible, CNBC reports

Microsoft on Monday 26 October introduced a Voluntary Exit Offer that lets eligible employees leave the company with financial support and career-planning resources, in a memo from Amy Coleman, its executive vice president and chief people officer, published on the company’s blog.

The time-limited offer covers eligible employees at level 70 and below in participating teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. Coleman wrote that some organisations are taking part and some are not, depending on “each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs”. She said the programme builds on the Voluntary Retirement Program Microsoft ran earlier this year.

Microsoft did not give a number in the memo. About 60,000 employees are eligible, about 27% of Microsoft’s workforce of 223,000, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. According to that person, employees must decide in early December and those who accept will leave on 31 December, and some marketing, sales and engineering teams are not taking part.

CNBC reported that Microsoft has increased spending on data centres to meet demand for AI computing. The company announced a voluntary retirement programme in April, and in July it announced plans to lay off 4,800 employees, CNBC said.

Microsoft is scheduled to report its latest quarterly results on Wednesday 28 October.