Microsoft says its voluntary exit offer builds on lessons from an earlier retirement programme.
Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to eligible employees in several markets, as the technology giant seeks greater flexibility in managing its workforce and responding to changing business requirements.
According to the software giant, the voluntary exit offer (VEO) is available to employees in Canada, India, the UK and US at level 70 and below in participating organisations.
The programme provides financial support and career planning resources to those who choose to leave the company.
The initiative gives qualifying employees an option to leave Microsoft with a financial package, while allowing participating business units to adjust their staffing without relying exclusively on compulsory redundancies.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft executive VP and chief people officer, announced the initiative in an internal communication to employees, describing it as an additional mechanism for “managing organisational change”.
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“The VEO reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter. This builds on what we learned earlier this year through the voluntary retirement programme.”
According to Coleman,the programme will not apply across Microsoft's entire workforce. Individual organisations will determine whether to participate, based on their operational priorities, customer commitments and staffing requirements.
“Eligible employees are being notified by e-mail, with links to information explaining the terms of their offers. Microsoft has not disclosed how many employees qualify for the programme, or how many departures it expects to result from it,” she added.
The company has also not announced the financial terms of the offers, or provided a target for the number of employees it hopes will accept them.
Coleman said the company would assess the programme as it is implemented, while continuing to consider other ways to manage its workforce and develop existing employees.
“The voluntary exit offer is new for us. 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.”
The offer will operate alongside efforts to develop employee capabilities and identify opportunities for internal career progression, it says. The approach leaves individual business units to determine how best to align their staffing with their respective needs.
Coleman said the company intends to continue refining how it manages organisational change, acknowledging that the same approach would not necessarily suit every team or employee.
The VEO follows Microsoft's voluntary retirement programme earlier this year.
A Reuters report says the VEO will affect more than a quarter (60 000) of the company’s global workforce.
Microsoft has undertaken several rounds of workforce reductions in recent years. In January 2023, it announced plans to cut 10 000 jobs globally, followed by about 1 900 job cuts in its gaming division in January 2024 after completing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In 2025, the company announced around 6 000 job cuts in May and a further 9 000 in July, bringing the total announced reductions that year to more than 15 000.