Microsoft’s 60,000-person buyout offer hints at a future with fewer workers and more equipment

In its 50-plus-year history, Microsoft has seen major workforce cuts. In July 2014, the company laid off some 18,000 employees; in January 2023, it cut 10,000 workers; and over the course of 2025, Microsoft let some 15,000 people go .

Its latest move looks different. On Monday, Microsoft announced a Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO), a program widely described as a buyout, for up to 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce . In a memo to employees that the company also published on its blog, Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer, wrote that the VEO “gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support.”

The memo states that the offer is available to “eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below.” (Microsoft’s internal career levels start at 59 for entry-level employees; level 70 reaches well into the company’s senior leadership ranks.) Not every organization is participating; Coleman wrote that participation “varies based on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.” Eligible employees have until early December to decide, and those who accept will leave on Dec. 31, CNBC reported .

Microsoft insists the program isn’t about shrinking, and it expects only a small fraction of eligible employees to accept. But the offer comes as the company pours money into AI data centers, and some economists see it as part of a broader Big Tech shift toward fewer workers and more equipment.

Microsoft hasn’t published a list of participating teams, but the outlines are visible. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the offer covers employees in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices, while marketing, commercial business and security teams are excluded. Bloomberg reported a similar list, according to TechCrunch , and a Microsoft spokesperson said some data center, sales and marketing employees are not eligible.

The split offers a rough map of where Microsoft wants to hold on to people: the teams that build and run its data centers, sell its products to businesses and keep its customers secure. It isn’t a simple story of AI winners and losers, though. Some of the teams building Microsoft’s AI products, including Copilot, are among those being offered a way out.

Reached for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Fortune that the VEO was being offered to 60,000 employees, but made clear that the intent was not to significantly reduce the size of the company’s workforce.