Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Up to 60,000 Employees

What changed

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to as many as 60,000 employees in the US, UK, Canada and India. Chief people officer Amy Coleman said the package includes financial support and career-planning resources, allowing Microsoft to reduce staff without another round of layoffs.

Why it matters

This changes the mechanics of the workforce reduction. Employees can decide whether to leave with support, while Microsoft gets a path to trim staff without imposing another across-the-board layoffs round.

The size is still a ceiling, not a final headcount: it is unclear how many people will accept, which teams will be most affected, or whether the program will materially change Microsoft’s total workforce. Those details will determine whether this is a broad restructuring or a smaller reshaping of specific parts of the company.