Microsoft is offering buyouts to about 60,000 eligible employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the UK who have an experience level of 70 or below, with those who accept leaving at the end of the year. Chief people officer Amy Coleman said the program reflects how the company is evolving its approach to change by creating more flexibility for employees, building on its Voluntary Retirement Program earlier this year. The move follows American Express's plan to eliminate 5% of its global workforce and Barclays' plan to cut about 5,000 jobs, with AI cited as a main reason in both cases. Meanwhile, initial U.S. unemployment claims fell to 194,000 in the week ending Oct. 17, one of the lowest levels in more than five decades. However, about 1.94 million Americans had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer in September, representing 27.1% of all unemployed workers.
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Related tickers and likely impact
MSFT
• NeutralMicrosoft
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $3.9T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 524.53 |
| Change that session | +0.66% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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