Microsoft offers voluntary exit buyouts to about 60,000 staff

Microsoft has launched a Voluntary Exit Offer that lets eligible employees take a buyout and leave the company. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman announced the program in a memo to staff, and a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider that about 60,000 employees, roughly 25 percent of the workforce, can apply.

Eligibility is limited to employees in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India. Eurogamer reports the cutoff as level 70 and below, while IGN and Engadget describe it as vice president level and below. Some groups are excluded, including staff working on data centers. Coleman described the program as “time-limited” and voluntary, and said participation varies by organization based on business priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.

Business Insider reports the terms resemble Microsoft’s severance packages. CNBC reports that employees have until December to decide, and that anyone who accepts leaves on December 31. Coleman said the offer builds on the company’s earlier Voluntary Retirement Program and added that the exit offer is “new for us,” so Microsoft will learn from it.

Why it matters

Bloomberg ties the program to Microsoft’s push to trim costs and retool its workforce while it spends heavily on AI. Engadget cites nearly $175 billion in data center and AI infrastructure spending in 2026 and nearly 90 hyperscale data centers opened this year. IGN notes that Microsoft had 223,000 employees at the end of June, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025.

The buyout follows a run of involuntary cuts. IGN reports that Microsoft laid off 4,800 roles, about 2.1 percent of its global workforce, three months ago, including 1,600 Xbox staff in July as part of Asha Sharma’s “reset” of the gaming business. Eurogamer says that reset involved a planned 3,200 job cuts and a broad restructure of first-party studios. Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs have since gone independent, and the futures of Arkane Lyon and Ninja Theory remain uncertain.

Rock Paper Shotgun reports that Xbox executive Matt Booty said the division was roughly three-quarters of the way through the 3,200 cuts. It also cites a report from last week that more Xbox cuts were planned for this month, November and January.

Microsoft’s earlier Voluntary Retirement Program is the nearest comparison. Rock Paper Shotgun, citing Business Insider, says 9,000 staff were offered it and around a third accepted. IGN puts the take-up at more than 30 percent of those eligible.

What we don’t know yet

Microsoft has not said whether Xbox or any of its studios are participating, and it is not clear how many of the 60,000 eligible employees will accept. Engadget points out that the earlier program drew far fewer takers than the number of people it was offered to, so the final headcount reduction could be well below the headline figure.