Microsoft offered 60,000 employees voluntary resignation

Microsoft has offered voluntary severance to 60,000 employees

Microsoft has offered 60,000 of its employees the option to voluntarily resign with severance pay, reports state. This accounts for more than a quarter of the company's total workforce.

The program applies to employees in the US, Canada, the UK, and India, with the exception of engineers and senior executives. Employees eligible for this offer must make a decision regarding their resignation by early December.

Business Insider, for its part, calls this initiative "Microsoft's latest attempt to reduce headcount while avoiding a wave of forced layoffs."

The publication notes that amid large-scale investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, the company is looking for ways to cut costs. According to annual report data, as of June 30, 2026, Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees globally.

"This offer creates a new opportunity for employees who see their future outside the company to make that transition right now with support. It also provides participating organizations another way to adjust their workforce to changing needs," Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said in a notification to employees (quoted by Reuters).

In April, Microsoft offered voluntary severance in the US to employees whose combined age and length of service at the company exceeded 70 years. Approximately 9,000 people (around 7 percent of the workforce) met these conditions, and nearly one-third of them accepted the offer.