Microsoft Offers Buyout Packages to Around 60,000 Employees, Roughly a Quarter of Its Global Workforce
Microsoft has rolled out a new “Voluntary Exit Offer,” a buyout program reportedly extended to around 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its more than 220,000-person global workforce. The offer, first reported by CNN and confirmed in an internal memo from Chief People Officer Amy Coleman, marks the company’s second major voluntary departure program this year.
What the Voluntary Exit Offer Actually Covers
The buyout is limited to employees in the US, UK, India, and Canada, and it isn’t open to everyone in those countries. According to the CNN report, participation varies by business, depending on each team’s priorities, customer commitments, and staffing needs. Employees who accept the severance package are expected to leave the company on December 31. Coleman framed the move as part of a broader shift in how Microsoft manages its workforce.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, announced the Voluntary Exit Offer in an internal memo to staff.
Building on an Already Turbulent Year
This isn’t Microsoft’s first voluntary departure push of 2026. A Voluntary Retirement Program offered earlier this year to roughly 9,000 longer-tenured US employees saw about a third of them accept, and the company followed that with layoffs affecting around 4,800 people in July. The new offer comes as Microsoft keeps pouring money into AI infrastructure and data centers, and Coleman tied the latest program directly to that earlier retirement effort.
“A new choice to make that transition now, with support.”
Amy Coleman, Microsoft Chief People Officer
Where This Leaves Xbox
It’s still unclear whether Xbox is among the business units participating in the new buyout program. Microsoft hasn’t specified which divisions are eligible, and Xbox has already been running its own separate round of cuts this year as part of CEO Asha Sharma’s ongoing brand “reset,” a restructuring effort that has included the abrupt departure of Xbox’s first-ever COO after just three months and an extended deadline for Arkane Lyon to find a buyer. Whether this company-wide offer adds another layer to that turbulence, or runs entirely separate from it, remains to be seen.
CEO Satya Nadella has made AI infrastructure spending a centerpiece of Microsoft’s strategy throughout 2026, even as the company trims its headcount.
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