Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Staff as AI Spending Climbs

Microsoft has offered buyouts to 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its 223,000-strong global workforce, according to sources speaking to CNBC and Reuters. The company has confirmed the move in a staff memo published online.

The 60,000 figure is eligibility, not expected departures. One report says Microsoft predicts a smaller take-up than its spring voluntary retirement offer, which roughly 30% of those approached accepted.

Who qualifies for the offer?

Eligibility cuts across a wide band of the company. The buyout spans business divisions including AI experiences, Copilot, finance, gaming and Windows + Devices, but excludes marketing, the commercial business and security, one source told Reuters. It covers teams in Canada, India, the UK and the US.

Chief people officer Amy Coleman said the offer applies to employees at experience level 70 and below — the internal grading system where level 70 marks senior roles such as general manager or partner-level technical leader. The window is time-limited and expires by early December, CNBC reported.

Coleman framed the scheme as a choice, not a purge. "This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support," she wrote in the memo. "It also gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs."

Plain words: mid-level staff in four countries can take a supported exit by early December; senior leadership and several divisions can't.

Why is Microsoft trimming headcount now?

The timing tracks two pressures: AI costs and prior rounds of cuts. Reuters reports the company aims to reduce costs amid heavy spending on AI infrastructure, with capital expenditures for the next quarter expected to top $50 billion.

This is the second reduction effort this year. Microsoft offered a voluntary retirement program in April to 7% of American employees, then laid off 4,800 staff in July. Last year brought multiple rounds of layoffs as well. Microsoft reports quarterly results later this week.

Plain words: AI infrastructure bills above $50 billion a quarter are reshaping how the company sizes its workforce.

What does the wider tech job market look like?

Microsoft isn't alone. Cloudflare said in May it would cut 1,000 roles, about 20% of its workforce. Oracle announced 21,000 job cuts in June, blaming AI. Dell Technologies, Salesforce, IBM and Intel all made sweeping cuts last year.

The AI explanation deserves scrutiny. An Oxford Economics study earlier this year found evidence of an AI-driven shake-up of jobs is "patchy" at best, with losses more attributable to wider economic forces. Atlassian said its customer service cuts last year had nothing to do with AI. Amazon pinned its 14,000 reductions on cutting bureaucracy.

Plain words: layoffs are real and sector-wide, but AI is partly a convenient label for ordinary cost pressure.

What should affected workers take from this?

For eligible staff, the offer is a supported, time-boxed exit rather than an involuntary cut — a materially better negotiating position than a layoff notice. For everyone else in tech, the pattern matters more than the press release: companies funding massive AI capex are consolidating headcount across divisions, and individual market leverage increasingly depends on which business unit and level you sit in.

ITPro approached Microsoft for confirmation and comment but received no response by time of publication.