Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 staff: over a quarter of its workforce, as AI spending soars

Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, Reuters reported. The scale equals more than a quarter of the company's global workforce, and comes as the technology giant looks to contain costs while funding massive AI investments.

Who is eligible

The Voluntary Exit Offer covers employees at vice president level and below in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India. Eligible teams include AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices; data centre operations, sales and marketing units are excluded.

Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said in a staff memo that the offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support, and gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs. Microsoft has not disclosed how many people it expects to accept; participation is voluntary, not a layoff notice.

The $175 billion AI bill

Reuters noted that Microsoft has forecast $175 billion in capital expenditures for calendar 2026, largely for AI data centres and chips, drawing scrutiny from investors over whether the returns will justify the cost. Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees globally as of June 30, 2026, according to its annual filing.

This is not Microsoft's first such offer this year: earlier in 2026 it offered voluntary buyouts to about 7% of its US workforce, or about 9,000 employees. Reports say severance terms are broadly in line with the company's standard package, varying by level, location and length of service.

What to watch next

What matters next is how many employees accept, and how the market reads the AI spending and cost-control numbers in the quarterly results Microsoft is due to report this week. The buyout also reflects a wider tech-industry shift: with computing and energy spending largely fixed, headcount has become the most flexible line.