Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Employees to Offset AI Spending

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and India, covering more than a quarter of its 223,000-person global workforce. The program targets staff at level 70 and below across units including Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and finance, while excluding sales and marketing roles. Packages provide severance-aligned benefits, including up to 39 weeks of pay and extended stock vesting, with exits scheduled for year-end. The restructuring follows 4,800 layoffs in July and earlier retirement buyouts as Microsoft reallocates capital toward rising artificial intelligence infrastructure costs.