Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 staff
Microsoft offered buyouts to staff in 4 countries on the 26th of October 2026. About 60,000 people can take it, roughly 27 percent of its workers, CNBC reported.
Microsoft's buyout offer to its staffMicrosoft offered a buyout to staff in 4 countries on the 26th of October 2026, its people chief Amy Coleman wrote in a memo. About 60,000 people can take it, roughly 27 percent of its workers, CNBC reported.
A buyout is money offered to workers who choose to leave. The offer covers some teams in the US, Canada, India and the UK, at level 70 and below on Microsoft's job scale.
What staff get
The package matches Microsoft's usual pay for staff who are let go, the company told GeekWire. It includes pay based on years of work, shares that keep vesting and health cover for a set time.
Staff must decide in early December, and those who accept leave on the 31st of December, CNBC reported.
Who is left out
Some marketing, sales and engineering teams chose to stay out, a person familiar with the plan told CNBC. Security and commercial teams are also left out, Reuters reported.
Why now
CNBC linked the offer to the cost of AI. Microsoft expected to spend over 50 billion dollars on data centres and other assets in the September quarter, against 34.9 billion dollars a year earlier.
Microsoft's memo makes no mention of AI. A spokesperson told GeekWire the offer is no sign the company needs fewer staff.
Below we break down the numbers
If 30 percent of those eligible took it, as with the spring retirement offer, about 18,000 people would leave, by our arithmetic. Microsoft told GeekWire it expects a much smaller share.
Key facts
About 60,000 staff are eligible, CNBC reported.
That is about 27 percent of 223,000 workers.
Staff decide in early December and leave on the 31st of December.
Microsoft's memo makes no mention of AI.
Source: Microsoft, Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer, the 26th of October 2026