Trending
Prev Story
Next Story

Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 employees

The Verge •
October 26, 2026 • 03:58 PM
• By Emma Roth
3
3 reads 0 reactions

Microsoft’s buyout offer is reaching more of its 223,000 or so employees.

Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 employees

Microsoft’s buyout offer is reaching more of its 223,000 or so employees.

Microsoft’s buyout offer is reaching more of its 223,000 or so employees.

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to up to 60,000 employees across the US, UK, Canada, and India. In a message to employees , Microsoft chief people officer Amy Coleman writes that this gives staff members “the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources” as the company looks to trim staff without another round of layoffs.

Sources familiar with the situation tell The Verge that staffers across Microsoft are eligible for the voluntary exit offers, including those in its AI experiences, Copilot, CoreAI, Windows + Devices, Xbox, finance, and human resources teams. Microsoft’s cloud + AI, MicrosoftAI teams, and corporate, external, and legal affairs are partially participating, the sources say. Meanwhile, employees on Microsoft’s marketing, commercial business, discovery and quantum, and security teams aren’t participating.

The voluntary exit offers come just months after Microsoft laid off 4,800 employees , a move that primarily impacted its Xbox and commercial sales teams. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is also planning new rounds of layoffs , according to a report from Fortune .

This voluntary exit offer doesn’t target Microsoft’s commercial sales teams, and it’s also very different to the previous voluntary retirement program that the company offered long-serving employees earlier this year . That previous offer was only available to around 9,000 employees, for US employees at a certain employee level whose combined years of service added to their age totaled 70 or more.

“The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us,” Coleman writes in a memo to employees. “We’ll learn from it. At the same time, we’ll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.”

This is the title for the native ad

This is the title for the native ad

Prev Swipe Story Next

Same Story from Other Publications

Compare how 6 other independent news outlets reported on this story.

6 Publications
SBS News Australia
8h ago
20,000 complaints per minute. How was the Microsoft outage fixed?

20,000 complaints per minute. How was the Microsoft outage fixed?

Microsoft had over 450 million paid user licenses as of January 2026, all unable to access their emails for over 24 hours.

#microsoft #000
Compare →
Wired
2h ago
Outlook Went Down? Microsoft May Owe You Money

Outlook Went Down? Microsoft May Owe You Money

If your Microsoft business services were offline last week, you’re probably entitled to a partial credit on your next monthly bill.

#microsoft
Compare →
The Guardian
8h ago
Microsoft ‘deeply sorry’ for global disruption that could have billion-dollar impact on Australia

Microsoft ‘deeply sorry’ for global disruption that could have billion-dollar impact on Australia

Experts say outage exposes ‘Australia’s reliance on foreign technology’ as software giant says services being restored

#microsoft
Compare →
Al Jazeera English
8h ago
Microsoft services begin recovering after global outage

Microsoft services begin recovering after global outage

Microsoft services began recovering on Friday after a global outage disrupted Outlook and Teams.

#microsoft
Compare →
The Age
10h ago
Microsoft’s global outage and fixes: What we know

Microsoft’s global outage and fixes: What we know

Some of Microsoft’s most popular products, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, stopped working across the world. Burt the company says it is seeing “encouraging recovery progress”.

#microsoft
Compare →
BBC News
12h ago
Microsoft 'deeply sorry' for global outage as it reports broad recovery

Microsoft 'deeply sorry' for global outage as it reports broad recovery

Experts say the event is a "stark reminder" of how heavily the world relies on a small group of big tech providers.

#microsoft
Compare →

Related Stories

Technology
Build #2612