Eligible staff in the US, UK, Canada and India can choose to leave with financial support and career-planning help as Microsoft seeks to reduce staffing without another round of layoffs.
Microsoft announced on 26 October that it is offering voluntary buyouts—financial support for employees who choose to leave—to up to 60,000 staff across the US, UK, Canada and India. Newly reported pay terms vary by employees’ internal job level and length of service.
Microsoft confirmed in a statement carried by Reuters that the offer covers employees at internal job level 70 or below in participating teams. The 60,000 figure describes eligibility, not accepted buyouts or confirmed job losses. It represents more than a quarter of the 223,000 full-time employees recorded worldwide in Microsoft’s annual filing as of 30 June 2026.
The offer follows 4,800 layoffs announced in July, which mainly affected Xbox and commercial sales teams. Microsoft is seeking to reduce staffing without another round of layoffs while containing costs and funding its superintelligence (SI) investments.
SiliconANGLE, citing Business Insider, said on 27 October that employees accepting the offer would receive pay based on their internal job level and time at Microsoft.
| Internal job level | Pay per six months of service |
|---|---|
| 64 or below | One week’s pay |
| 65–67 |
The offer accompanies Microsoft’s shift of resources toward superintelligence (SI), giving employees a voluntary option to leave.
1 min
| Two weeks’ pay |
The same account says the package also includes six to 12 months of stock vesting—the process through which employees gain ownership of awarded shares—continued healthcare coverage for a limited period and help finding another job.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer, said the time-limited voluntary programme provides financial support and career-planning resources. It also gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs. Participation depends on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.
People familiar with the offer told The Verge that some teams participate only partly, while others are excluded. The table reflects their account. An unnamed person familiar with the matter also told Reuters that Xbox is participating and that marketing, commercial business and security are excluded.
| Participation | Teams |
|---|---|
| Participating | SI experiences; Copilot; CoreAI; Windows + Devices; Xbox; finance; human resources |
| Partially participating | Cloud and SI; MicrosoftAI; corporate, external and legal affairs |
| Not participating | Marketing; commercial business; discovery and quantum; security |
IGN said on 26 October that some employees working on data centres are excluded from the offer.
Microsoft says in an internal human-resources notice that eligibility for the new offer is not based on age, length of service or performance. The offer also does not target commercial sales teams. The earlier voluntary retirement programme, offered in 2026, covered about 9,000 US employees at a specified employee level whose age plus years of service totalled at least 70. The new offer reaches beyond that narrower retirement group.
Microsoft also says it may consider another voluntary exit offer where business and workforce needs warrant one.
Deadline said on 26 October that benefits would be similar to a standard severance package—the benefits provided when employment ends. Eligible employees have until early December to decide whether to accept, with those accepting due to leave on 31 December.
