Microsoft offers exit deals to 27% of its workforce

27% of Microsoft’s 223,000 employees are now eligible for a voluntary exit offer. The company announced the plan on Monday, targeting staff in the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Eligibility is limited to workers at experience level 70 or below.

A person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named, estimated that about 60,000 individuals qualify for the package. This represents a substantial portion of the global workforce. The move comes as Microsoft balances aggressive spending on data centers with the need for capital efficiency.

The company has increased investment in AI infrastructure to serve clients like Anthropic and OpenAI. Capital expenditures for the September quarter are projected to exceed $50 billion, up from $34.9 billion in the same period last year. This surge in spending has pressured the firm’s finances.

Microsoft previously launched a voluntary retirement program in April that affected 7% of U.S. staff. In July, it also announced layoffs for 4,800 employees. Amy Coleman, the executive vice president and chief people officer, wrote in an internal memo that the new offer creates greater flexibility for employees to shape their next chapters.

The new initiative expands eligibility beyond the previous retirement program, which was open to staff at the senior director level and below. This time, the offer extends to the vice president level. Some teams in marketing, sales, and engineering have opted out of the program. Employees must decide whether to accept the offer by early December.

Those who participate will depart the company on December 31. More than 30% of eligible staff accepted the earlier retirement program, according to data released in July. Microsoft did not set a specific target number for the new buyout program.

The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results on Wednesday. In the second quarter, Microsoft reported positive free cash flow of $19.64 billion, a 23% decline year over year, while rivals Alphabet and Amazon reported negative free cash flow.