60,000 Employees Eligible for Microsoft Voluntary Exit Offer, or 27% of Its Workforce
Key Facts
Microsoft has made a voluntary exit offer available to about 60,000 employees, equivalent to 27% of its global workforce, according to the Associated Press. The company announced the initiative on October 26 for eligible employees in participating organizations, saying it provides financial support and career-planning resources. The figure is not the number of people leaving, but an estimate of those offered the chance to consider the program. Microsoft did not forecast how many would accept, while GeekWire quoted the company as saying expected uptake is far below that of its previous voluntary retirement program. The announcement comes as the company reshapes its workforce alongside growth in its cloud business and investment in AI infrastructure.
The offer covers employees in participating teams in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India at job level 70 and below, according to Microsoft's official blog. It is not open to all employees in those countries; some organizations will participate and others will not. The company said participation varies according to each business's priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs. GeekWire also reported that sales, some engineering teams and corporate functions would not be included in the program. The offer has no age or length-of-service requirement, and performance does not affect eligibility, according to GeekWire's account of the company's comments.
The package includes, according to details GeekWire attributed to the company, base pay determined by length of service and job level, with equity vesting continuing. It also includes health care for a fixed period and career-transition services. GeekWire reported that employees have until the first week of December to decide. The health coverage differs from that in the previous retirement program, as the current package does not include extended health coverage. The report did not give a specific value for the packages or an estimate of their total cost.
The offer follows Microsoft's elimination of about 4,800 jobs on July 6, equivalent to 2.1% of its global workforce, according to the company's blog. The Associated Press had reported that the company planned in May to offer voluntary buyouts to about 8,750 people, or 7% of its U.S. workforce. The current offer differs from job cuts because it allows eligible employees in specified organizations to choose to leave. Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees on June 30, compared with 228,000 on the same date a year earlier, according to GeekWire. The company announced the July job cuts after the cited employment data date.
Microsoft's annual financial results show the business expansion accompanying the workforce reshaping. Revenue in fiscal 2026 rose to $331.839 billion from $281.724 billion the previous year, an increase of 18%, according to its annual report. Cost of revenue increased by $17.7 billion, or 44%, which the company attributed to investment in AI infrastructure to meet customer demand. Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 41% in the fiscal year, while Azure revenue alone topped $100 billion for the first time. In the quarter ended June 30, Microsoft Cloud revenue was about $59.3 billion, up 27% year over year, and revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 43%.
In trading, Microsoft shares rose about 1% in the October 26 session, according to the Associated Press, and closed at $532.6, according to EL7 data. Amy Coleman, chief people officer, said the exit offer was new for the company, adding: "The voluntary exit offer is new for us. We will learn from this experience." The next results announcement is near: Microsoft said it will release results for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 on October 28. The results will come two days after the program announcement, as the company continues to record cloud-services growth and costs associated with AI infrastructure. The company has not disclosed how many employees will accept the offer.