Hyderabad: Microsoft introduced a new Voluntary Exit Offer on Monday (October 26) for about 60,000 employees, roughly 27 percent of its 223,000-strong global workforce. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman announced the programme in a memo to staff, calling it a way to give employees "a new choice to make that transition now with support."
The offer covers eligible employees in participating teams in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India, Coleman said. It applies to staff at internal level 70 and below, which includes general managers and some vice presidents but not corporate vice presidents, according to GeekWire, which confirmed the 60,000 figure directly with Microsoft.
Unlike Microsoft's April voluntary retirement programme, this offer carries no age or tenure requirement, and performance is not a factor, the company told CNBC. Eligible employees will receive an email with their individual offer details, Coleman wrote.
The severance depends on an employee's level, tenure and location, India Today reported, citing a Business Insider review of offer documents. Employees at level 64 and below are being offered one week of base pay for every six months of service. Those at levels 65 to 67 are offered two weeks of base pay for every six months, capped at 39 weeks of base pay for level 67 and below. Level 68 employees get a standard offer of 12 months' salary.
The package also includes continued stock vesting for six or twelve months depending on tenure, and health insurance coverage for a fixed period, GeekWire reported. It does not include the extended healthcare that was part of the April programme.
Employees have until the first week of December to decide, Times Now reported. Those who accept will leave the company on December 31.
Eligible divisions include AI experiences, Copilot, CoreAI, Windows and Devices, Xbox, finance and human resources, according to The Verge, which cited people familiar with the matter. Marketing, commercial business, discovery and quantum, and security teams are not participating. Microsoft's sales organisation is also sitting this one out.
A Microsoft spokesperson told The Register the company is not classifying the programme as a buyout, since employees are not being financially incentivised to leave beyond standard severance terms.
This is Microsoft's third workforce action of 2026. In April, the company ran its first-ever voluntary retirement programme, limited to roughly 8,750 US employees at senior director level and below whose age plus years of service totalled 70 or more. About 30 percent accepted. In July, Microsoft cut around 4,800 roles globally, including 3,200 at Xbox, followed by 268 more Xbox job cuts in September.
Microsoft has not set a target for how many employees should accept the new offer, India Today and GeekWire both reported, but the company expects a smaller share than the roughly 30 percent who took the April programme. The Register noted that when Google ran a similar buyout in 2025, between 3 and 5 per cent of eligible staff accepted.
Microsoft has said the new offer does not replace layoffs, which remain possible depending on business conditions. The company's free cash flow stood at $19.64 billion last quarter, down 23 percent from a year earlier, Times Now reported, as it continues heavy spending on AI data centres. Microsoft is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday (October 28).