Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to About 60,000 Staff Amid AI Cost Cuts

Chief people officer Amy Coleman sent the note, which Microsoft also published on its blog. Employees at vice president level and below on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom qualify. Bloomberg reports that Xbox, Windows, Copilot and Finance are among the participating divisions, and the terms resemble Microsoft's standard severance. This is not the first buyout of the year. In April, Microsoft offered buyouts to retirement-age employees, and more than 30 percent of roughly 8,750 eligible workers accepted. Microsoft reported a headcount of 223,000 at the end of June. For founders, this shows a platform company reshaping teams around AI tools through voluntary exits rather than mass layoffs. Companies building on Microsoft's developer and Copilot ecosystems should expect product teams to shift, and the talent that leaves may become available to startups.