Microsoft has extended a voluntary buyout offer to roughly 60,000 employees across the US, Canada, India and the UK, according to internal memo reports seen by multiple outlets on 27 October 2026. The offer covers staff at vice president level and below in select teams, excluding data centre, sales and marketing.
The eligible groups include AI Experience, Copilot, Finance, Human Resources, Xbox and Windows+ Devices, per the memo. Marketing, commercial business and security divisions have been kept out. Microsoft had 2.23 lakh employees as of 30 June 2026, which means roughly 27% of its workforce has been offered the exit route.
Microsoft Chief People Officer Amy Coleman framed the earlier April tranche of the same programme in these terms: “Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support.”
This is Microsoft’s second voluntary buyout wave in 2026. In April, the company had offered separation packages to about 8,750 US employees, or 7% of its American workforce. It followed that in July with a formal layoff of 4,800 roles, mostly in Commercial and Xbox divisions. Across the same period, Microsoft redeployed more than 4,000 employees into new roles and ran a voluntary retirement scheme that saw 30% of eligible staff opt in.
The buyout push is unfolding alongside Microsoft’s capital expenditure plan of about $175 billion for the year, directed largely at AI data centres and chips. Across the sector, Fortune has reported about 92,000 tech-industry job cuts in 2026 as companies trim overhead while funding AI infrastructure.
The India dimension is new. Microsoft has not disclosed how many of its India-based staff are eligible, nor the specific business units in India covered. Microsoft India has not issued an official statement at the time of filing.
