Microsoft announced it would offer buyouts to 60,000 employees as the company seeks to reduce costs while investing heavily in artificial intelligence. The Guardian reported the move on Monday, noting that divisions including Xbox, Windows and Copilot, Microsoft's AI tool, will participate in the offer. Employees in cybersecurity, datacentres and marketing will not be eligible, Bloomberg said.
The buyout programme represents the latest in a series of workforce reductions at Microsoft this year. In April, the company offered voluntary retirement to about 7% of its US workforce, which at that time consisted of roughly 125,000 employees. Microsoft's global workforce totals approximately 223,000 workers. Amy Coleman, the company's executive vice-president and chief people officer, said the offer would give eligible staff "a new choice to make that transition now with support" and allow "participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs".
The move follows similar announcements across the technology sector as companies rush to invest in AI and restructure operations. Meta announced plans in April to cut 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 employees, to boost efficiency. Amazon has made several cuts to its workforce, most recently in its retail division. Oracle shed nearly 13% of its workforce in June, cutting 21,000 jobs, partly as a result of AI investment.
However, there is growing uncertainty about whether these reductions have delivered the promised benefits. Some companies, including Meta, have scaled back their layoff plans. A senior Microsoft leader, Ryan Roslansky, recently complained about "AI slop" in the workforce on social media. The National Bureau of Economic Research published a working paper finding that among 9,000 senior executives surveyed globally, 90% said AI had yet to result in greater productivity at their companies.