Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Roughly 60,000 Employees

Microsoft will offer voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees, about a quarter of its global workforce, the company said Monday. CNBC first reported the figure. The program, called a voluntary exit offer or VEO, covers eligible employees in select parts of the company.

Microsoft framed the package as a chance for staff already weighing moves outside the company. It gave no direct reason for the buyout. The offer lands after several years of cost management alongside heavy spending on AI infrastructure and data-center construction.

Who qualifies for the buyout?

The VEO extends to qualifying employees in the United States, India, Canada and the United Kingdom. Employees at level 70 or below qualify. Microsoft keeps its leveling system internal, but the salary database Levels.fyi maps levels 65–67 to principal positions and 68–70 to partner and distinguished roles.

Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said the company selected eligible organizations "based on each business's priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs." That wording leaves individual business units to bear the reduction, not a company-wide mandate.

How does this fit Microsoft's 2026 cuts?

This is Microsoft's second voluntary workforce reduction in 2026. The timeline runs as follows:

• April: Microsoft offered its first voluntary retirement package to 8,750 US employees, aimed at long-tenured staff near the end of their careers.
• July: The Xbox division laid off 3,200 employees, about 20 percent of the entire gaming division.
• October: The VEO opens the program to a far larger pool across four countries and most seniority levels below partner.

About 30 percent of eligible employees accepted the April retirement offer, Coleman said, according to CNBC. That uptake lessened the impact of the planned layoffs at the time. The October offer differs in scale and scope. April targeted a narrow group near retirement. The VEO reaches employees at level 70 and below in four countries, a pool roughly seven times larger than the April package.

What does the AI buildout have to do with it?

Microsoft did not tie the buyouts to any specific budget line. The context matters, however. The company has spent the last several years managing costs while pouring capital into AI infrastructure and data-center buildout, a commitment that includes covering the full power costs of energy-hungry AI data centers. Headcount reductions of this size free operating budget that capital-intensive construction otherwise absorbs.

The April program showed voluntary offers can absorb part of a planned reduction, with the 30 percent acceptance rate softening layoffs. If the VEO draws a similar share of its 60,000 eligible employees, Microsoft could see one of the largest voluntary exits in its history without a single involuntary notice.