Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its global workforce, in a programme the company announced on Monday, October 26. The figure was reported by Bloomberg and Business Insider and cited by Engadget; Microsoft's own public post does not give a head count.

Source: Engadget

The programme, called the Voluntary Exit Offer, was announced in a message to employees from Amy Coleman, Microsoft's executive vice president and chief people officer. It covers employees at level 70 and below — described in reports as vice-president level and below — on participating teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom.

"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," Coleman wrote, according to reporting on the memo. Microsoft says the offer comes with financial support and career-planning resources, and a company spokesperson told Bloomberg the package is similar to a standard severance offer.

Not every team is included

"Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not," Coleman wrote, adding that participation varies with each business's priorities and workforce needs. Eligible workers were told they would receive an email with their individual offer details, and reports say the decision window runs until early December.

This is Microsoft's second such programme of 2026. In the spring the company ran a narrower Voluntary Retirement Program, which GeekWire described as the first in the company's history, covering roughly 8,750 employees, of whom about 30 percent accepted, according to GeekWire reporting cited in coverage of Monday's announcement.

Source: Workers Rights News / GeekWire

The buyout comes as Microsoft spends heavily on artificial intelligence and data-centre infrastructure while also cutting costs elsewhere, including recent layoffs in its Xbox division, Engadget reported. It is a voluntary programme: the company has not said how many of the roughly 60,000 eligible employees it expects to accept, and being eligible does not mean an employee has been laid off.

For Indian and Punjabi-diaspora tech workers in the Seattle area, the wider United States, Canada and India — all four countries covered by the offer — the programme is one of the largest voluntary-exit schemes announced by a major US tech employer this year. Workers who receive an offer will have to weigh the severance terms against their own visa, family and job-market position before the early-December window closes, according to the reports.