Microsoft opens voluntary exit door to 60,000 employees

Microsoft is inviting roughly a quarter of its workforce to walk away. The software giant is offering about 60,000 employees the chance to leave voluntarily with a severance package, only months after running the first voluntary retirement program in its history.

The Voluntary Exit Offer was announced on Monday, October 26, 2026, in an internal memo from Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer. It covers participating teams in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India.

The 60,000 figure is the number of eligible employees, not the number expected to leave. Microsoft has not projected how many will accept, saying only that it anticipates a much smaller share than took up its retirement program.

Who qualifies

According to the company, there is no age or tenure requirement, and performance plays no part in eligibility. The offer reaches up to level 70 on Microsoft’s internal scale, which includes general managers and some employees with vice president titles, but not corporate vice presidents.

Business leaders decide whether their groups take part. The sales organization is sitting it out, as are some engineering teams and corporate functions.

“This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support,” Coleman wrote.

Standard severance, minus the extended healthcare

The package matches Microsoft’s standard severance, the company said: base pay tied to tenure and level, continued stock vesting, healthcare coverage for a fixed period and career transition services. It does not include the extended healthcare that was the main draw of the retirement program. Eligible staff will receive details by email and have until the first week of December to decide.

In the spring, Microsoft offered voluntary retirement to about 8,750 US employees at level 67 and below. Around 30% accepted, and the company booked a $900 million charge for the program in its April earnings.

A shrinking headcount and a giant AI bill

Microsoft says the offer is not a sign that it needs fewer people, describing it as one of several ways to adapt to changing business needs, and stresses that it does not replace layoffs, which remain an option depending on conditions. Still, the company cut 4,800 jobs in July, about 2% of its workforce, followed by hundreds more in September, after eliminating more than 15,000 roles in 2025.

It had 223,000 full-time employees at the end of June, down from 228,000 a year earlier, while it pours money into data centers and AI infrastructure: it expected capital expenditures to top $50 billion in the quarter ended in September. Quarterly results due on Wednesday, October 28, could put a price on the new offer.