Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Staff as AI Bills Pile Up
Published on 10/28/2026 at 01:20 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Microsoft has opened a voluntary severance programme to roughly 60,000 employees — more than a quarter of its global workforce — as the company looks to trim costs while funding its sprawling artificial intelligence build-out.
Amy Coleman, the company's chief people officer, unveiled the plan on a Monday. Eligible staff will each receive an email containing a personal access link through which they can opt in.
Who qualifies, and by when
The offer covers employees in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom up to and including career level 70. Managers up to vice-president level are also free to take it. Applications close in the first week of December, with departures scheduled for 31 December 2026.
Not every part of the business is included. The buyout applies to selected teams, among them AI Experiences, Copilot, Finance, Human Resources, Windows + Devices and Xbox. Marketing, commercial sales, cybersecurity, and parts of the data-centre and quantum-computing operations are excluded.
What the package contains
For US staff, the severance comes to at least 60 days' base pay and can reach 39 weeks' base pay depending on length of service. Employees at level 64 and below receive one week of base salary for every six months worked; those at levels 65 to 67 get two weeks per six months.
On top of the cash, the package includes continued vesting of stock, extended health coverage and career counselling. A company spokesperson described the terms as comparable to a standard severance arrangement.
Take-up, though, is expected to be thin. Industry observers and a company spokesperson both anticipate participation well below the 30% recorded under an earlier early-retirement offer. This is already Microsoft's second voluntary severance round in 2026. At the start of the year, about 7% of the US workforce — some 9,000 people — were eligible, and more than 30% of them accepted. In 2025 the company cut more than 15,000 jobs, and Xbox moved ahead with a planned reduction of 3,200 positions early in 2026.
The spending behind the squeeze
The buyouts land amid sharply rising outlays on technical infrastructure. Microsoft, like peers including Google and Meta, is pouring more money into computing capacity. Capital expenditure is forecast at USD 175bn for calendar year 2026.
Other sources put the range for AI investment in data centres and semiconductors in 2026 at USD 130bn to 145bn — roughly EUR 116bn to 129bn, and close to double the 2025 figure.
Cash is feeling the strain. Free cash flow came in at USD 19.64bn in the second quarter, a 23% drop year on year. Markets greeted the announcement with mild approval: Microsoft shares rose 1% on the Monday and are up 10% since the start of the year.
