London
16 °C
Manchester
16 °C
Glasgow
11 °C
Dublin
Belfast
Washington
Denver
Atlanta
Dallas
22 °C
Houston Texas
New Orleans
El Paso
Phoenix
Los Angeles
23 °C
7 °C
-1 °C
-4 °C
-1 °C
21 °C
30 °C
Microsoft offers voluntary exit packages to 60,000 staff / Photo: ANDREJ IVANOV - AFP
Microsoft offers voluntary exit packages to 60,000 staff
Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, the company said on Monday, roughly a quarter of its workforce, as the tech giant seeks to cut costs while pouring money into artificial intelligence.
Staff on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and Britain at vice president level and below will be eligible, a Microsoft spokesperson said, while some groups of employees, including some working on data centers, sales and marketing, are excluded.
"The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Amy Coleman, an executive vice president and chief people officer, told employees in a memo.
It's the second voluntary buyout offer that Microsoft has offered employees this year.
In April, the company reportedly offered around seven percent of its US workforce the option to retire early.
Around 30 percent of those eligible took the voluntary retirement plan, according to CNBC.
Microsoft had 223,000 employees globally at the end of June, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings.
Around 27 percent of Microsoft's workforce is eligible for the new buyout offer.
The company is expected to report quarterly earnings later this week.
G.Hauser--BlnAP
