AI impact: Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 employees in India, US and other countries. Details here
The programme could cover around 60,000 employees, or more than a quarter of Microsoft's global workforce
- Oct 27, 2026,
- Updated Oct 27, 2026 7:51 AM IST
Tech giant Microsoft on Monday announced a voluntary exit programme for eligible employees in India, the US, the UK and Canada amid rising artificial intelligence (AI) costs. The programme could cover around 60,000 employees, or more than a quarter of Microsoft's global workforce, Reuters reported.
Eligible employees have time until early December to decide whether to take the offer and exit at the end of the year. The buyout, which is a time-limited offer, would be available to eligible employees at level 70 and below in participating teams across the four countries.
MUST READ | 'AI models cannot be trusted': Microsoft warns of insider threats, expands Project Perception
Who is eligible for the voluntary exit programme?
Employees including those working in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox, and Windows + Devices would be eligible, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Units such as marketing, commercial business and security would be excluded, the source mentioned.
In an official blog, Amy Coleman, the company's Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer wrote, "This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs."
She added that this is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those eligible an opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources.
Coleman, however, clarified that the VEO wouldn't be implemented uniformly across its operations, with participation depending on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.
"Eligible employees will receive an email with a link to their Voluntary Exit Offer details within the next few hours," the blog further read.
ALSO READ | AI revenue is surging at Indian IT firms, but how much is adding to growth?
What employees have been offered?
Offers are individualised for each employee based on their level, location and tenure, Business Insider reported. A levels system is used at Microsoft to represent seniority, with entry levels starting at 59-60.
Level 61-62 is for early-to-mid career engineers; Level 63-64 is for experienced engineers and frontline managers; Level 65-67 is for principal-level technical leaders or senior management overseeing multiple teams and broad organisational strategy; and Level 68-70+ is for partner-level technical leaders, Distinguished Engineers, Technical Fellows, and Vice Presidents holding executive-level scope.
As per offers reviewed by Business Insider, employees at internal levels 64 and below got one week of base pay per six months of service.
Employees at levels 65 to 67 were offered two weeks of base pay per six months of service. The buyout offers also include regular stock vesting and health insurance.
The standard stock vesting severance offer is 6 or 12 months for levels 67 and below, depending on years of service. For levels 67 and below, severance is capped at 39 weeks of base pay. The standard severance offer for level 68 includes 12 months of salary.
DON'T MISS | Nikhil Kamath questions the AI boom: Are billions in spending translating into real business gains?
Microsoft's AI ambitions
Meanwhile, a company spokesperson told PTI that the tech giant continues to invest in India's talent and technology ecosystem. The spokesperson added that Microsoft is backing the country's AI ambitions with $20.5 billion in committed investment between 2025 and 2029 across cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations.
"We are also on track to fulfil our commitment of equipping 20 million people across India with AI skills by 2030," the Microsoft spokesperson said.
July 2026 job cuts
Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees globally as of June 30, 2026, according to its annual filing. In July this year, Microsoft said that it would cut 4,800 jobs or around 2.1% of its global workforce in a bid to restructure its gaming division.
Not only did Microsoft announce job cuts, it also rolled out a voluntary retirement program for senior employees to director level and below. At the time, the company said that over 30% of the 8,750 people who were eligible took the offer.
Despite spending billions on Xbox expansion, including the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft has struggled to compete with Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo.
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Tech giant Microsoft on Monday announced a voluntary exit programme for eligible employees in India, the US, the UK and Canada amid rising artificial intelligence (AI) costs. The programme could cover around 60,000 employees, or more than a quarter of Microsoft's global workforce, Reuters reported.
Eligible employees have time until early December to decide whether to take the offer and exit at the end of the year. The buyout, which is a time-limited offer, would be available to eligible employees at level 70 and below in participating teams across the four countries.
MUST READ | 'AI models cannot be trusted': Microsoft warns of insider threats, expands Project Perception
Who is eligible for the voluntary exit programme?
Employees including those working in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox, and Windows + Devices would be eligible, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Units such as marketing, commercial business and security would be excluded, the source mentioned.
In an official blog, Amy Coleman, the company's Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer wrote, "This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs."
She added that this is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those eligible an opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources.
Coleman, however, clarified that the VEO wouldn't be implemented uniformly across its operations, with participation depending on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.
"Eligible employees will receive an email with a link to their Voluntary Exit Offer details within the next few hours," the blog further read.
ALSO READ | AI revenue is surging at Indian IT firms, but how much is adding to growth?
What employees have been offered?
Offers are individualised for each employee based on their level, location and tenure, Business Insider reported. A levels system is used at Microsoft to represent seniority, with entry levels starting at 59-60.
Level 61-62 is for early-to-mid career engineers; Level 63-64 is for experienced engineers and frontline managers; Level 65-67 is for principal-level technical leaders or senior management overseeing multiple teams and broad organisational strategy; and Level 68-70+ is for partner-level technical leaders, Distinguished Engineers, Technical Fellows, and Vice Presidents holding executive-level scope.
As per offers reviewed by Business Insider, employees at internal levels 64 and below got one week of base pay per six months of service.
Employees at levels 65 to 67 were offered two weeks of base pay per six months of service. The buyout offers also include regular stock vesting and health insurance.
The standard stock vesting severance offer is 6 or 12 months for levels 67 and below, depending on years of service. For levels 67 and below, severance is capped at 39 weeks of base pay. The standard severance offer for level 68 includes 12 months of salary.
DON'T MISS | Nikhil Kamath questions the AI boom: Are billions in spending translating into real business gains?
Microsoft's AI ambitions
Meanwhile, a company spokesperson told PTI that the tech giant continues to invest in India's talent and technology ecosystem. The spokesperson added that Microsoft is backing the country's AI ambitions with $20.5 billion in committed investment between 2025 and 2029 across cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations.
"We are also on track to fulfil our commitment of equipping 20 million people across India with AI skills by 2030," the Microsoft spokesperson said.
July 2026 job cuts
Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees globally as of June 30, 2026, according to its annual filing. In July this year, Microsoft said that it would cut 4,800 jobs or around 2.1% of its global workforce in a bid to restructure its gaming division.
Not only did Microsoft announce job cuts, it also rolled out a voluntary retirement program for senior employees to director level and below. At the time, the company said that over 30% of the 8,750 people who were eligible took the offer.
Despite spending billions on Xbox expansion, including the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft has struggled to compete with Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine