Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, roughly 27% of its workforce, as it continues heavy spending on artificial intelligence. Eligible staff include senior leaders up to vice president level, according to a memo from chief people officer Amy Coleman. Microsoft had about 223,000 employees at the end of June, down 5,000 from the same period in 2025, as it cut headcount to trim costs while investing billions in AI data centers. Severance is based on tenure, with a minimum of eight weeks' pay in the US, continued stock vesting, health care and career services, and eligible employees in the US, UK, Canada and India must accept by the first week of December and leave on December 31. The company offered a similar voluntary program to long-tenured employees in April.
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Related tickers and likely impact
MSFT
▲ Likely positiveMicrosoft
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $3.9T |
| Close on 10/26/2026 | 532.60 |
| Change that session | +1.54% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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Microsoft announced a new voluntary buyout program covering about 60,000 eligible employees, who can choose to leave with financial support and career planning resources. The program covers more than a quarter of the company's roughly 223,000 full-time employees worldwide as of June 30, 2026, and is open to employees at level 70 and below in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and India, with participation varying by business unit. Earlier this year Microsoft offered buyouts to about 9,000 U.S. employees, or about 7% of its U.S. workforce, and in July it announced cuts affecting about 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1% of its global workforce, as it overhauled its Xbox business. EVP and chief people officer Amy Coleman said the company will learn from the new offer and keep helping employees build skills and find opportunities across Microsoft.
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