CNBC reports that workers at experience level 70 or below are eligible; a person familiar with the matter estimated the group at about 60,000 people, or 27% of Microsoft’s reported 223,000-person workforce.
Employees must decide in early December, according to the report, and participants would leave on December 31. The offer follows Microsoft’s voluntary retirement program announced in April and its July plan to cut 4,800 jobs. Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer, said in an employee memo that the program was intended to give employees more flexibility in shaping their next step.
CNBC places the move alongside Microsoft’s spending on AI infrastructure and effort to preserve capital efficiency. The report does not establish how many employees will accept, the financial terms of the offers, a headcount target, or whether the program will reduce staffing in any particular product or AI team. Some marketing, sales and engineering teams reportedly will not participate.