Microsoft offers buyouts to 27 percent of its global workforce

In recent years, Microsoft has announced a number of mass layoffs, culling thousands of jobs each time. Its latest effort to cut costs could be its most sizeable to date, with the tech giant putting forward voluntary exit offers (VEOs) to an estimated 60 000 employees.

Should the VEOs be taken, it would represent nearly 27 percent of the company’s global workforce, which is believed to be around 223 000 at the last count.

“We’re introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organizations. This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs,” Microsoft’s EVP and chief people officer, Amy Coleman, noted in a published letter to employees.

“This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources. Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs,” Coleman added.

At the time of writing, the divisions within Microsoft that would be affected by the VEOs has not been officially disclosed, but according to TechCrunch, it is reported that several of the company’s consumer-facing divisions would be impacted.

To that end, Microsoft’s Xbox, Windows, and Copilot have been mentioned, with the latter being quite notable given how much the tech giant has invested in on-device AI in recent years.

While it is unclear how long the “time-limited” VEOs will be on the table, it looks like Microsoft is hoping to get its confirmations lined up before the week’s end. If it does not meet the aforementioned 60 000 figure, more mass layoffs will be in the offing.

[Image – Photo by Simon Ray on Unsplash]

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