Version 1: Microsoft offers about 60,000 staff, including some in India, money to leave

A new voluntary exit offer lets eligible employees in four countries quit with severance pay as the tech giant spends big on AI. Here is what a buyout means.

Picture this. You open your work email on a Monday and find a message from your company. It does not fire you. Instead it says: if you want to leave, we will pay you to go. That is what about 60,000 people at Microsoft, including staff in India, could find in their inbox this week.

On Monday, 26 October 2026, Microsoft's Chief People Officer Amy Coleman announced a new "Voluntary Exit Offer" in a note to staff, which the company also put up on its official blog. The offer is open to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Microsoft confirmed to TechCrunch that around 60,000 employees can take it.

First, what is a buyout?

Think of a cricket team with a senior player. The team could drop him next season without warning. Or it could go to him now and say: retire on your own terms, and here is a farewell bonus to help you start your next chapter. The second way is kinder, and the player gets to choose.

A buyout, or voluntary exit package, works the same way. The company offers money to people who agree to leave by their own choice. Nobody is forced. The money is called severance, which is simply parting pay: a lump of salary that helps a person while they look for their next role.

A layoff is different. In a layoff, the company decides who goes, and the person has no say.

How big is 60,000?

Microsoft had 223,000 full time employees as of 30 June 2026, down from 228,000 a year earlier. So 60,000 is more than a quarter of the whole company. Imagine a school of 1,000 students where the principal tells about 270 of them: you may leave with a gift if you want.

That does not mean 60,000 people will leave. It only means that many are allowed to say yes. Microsoft told GeekWire it expects a much smaller share to accept this time.

Four steps of the exit offer: an email arrives, staff think until early December, they say yes or keep working, and those who say yes leave at year end with severance pay — The offer in four simple steps.

Who can take it?

The note says the offer is for staff at "level 70 and below". Level is Microsoft's internal ladder of seniority, a bit like ranks in a school's sports team, from new player to captain. GeekWire reports that level 70 reaches general managers and some people with vice president titles, but not corporate vice presidents, the top bosses.

Not every team is in. Coleman wrote that some groups are giving the offer and some are not, based on each business's needs. Business Insider, which first reported the memo, says sales teams, some engineering groups and some corporate functions are left out. Bloomberg, as cited by TechCrunch, reports that teams such as Xbox, Windows, Copilot and Finance are taking part.

There is also no age limit this time, and how well someone has performed plays no part in who qualifies, the company told GeekWire.

What is in the package?

Microsoft says the deal matches its standard severance. According to GeekWire, that means base pay linked to how long a person has worked there and their level, shares that keep vesting (company shares that are slowly given to staff over time), health cover for a fixed period and help with finding a new career.

Eligible staff get an email with their own terms. They have until early December to decide, and those who accept leave at the end of the year, a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider.

What does it mean for India?

Microsoft has about 23,000 employees in India, reports the Free Press Journal. It is not yet clear how many of them are eligible. The same report says eligible staff in India are understood to have until 1 December to decide.

At the same time, a Microsoft spokesperson told the paper that the company keeps investing in India, with $20.5 billion committed between 2025 and 2029 for cloud and AI infrastructure, skills training and operations. The spokesperson also said Microsoft is on track to train 20 million people in India in AI skills by 2030.

For young tech workers, this is a sign of how big companies now manage teams. Instead of only cutting people, they are giving some staff a choice. That choice is still a hard one: people weigh their savings, the job market and how long it may take to find a new role, as Mint points out.

A number counting up to 60,000 staff who can take the new offer, with a tall bar next to a small bar for about 8,750 in the spring offer — Far more people can say yes this time.

Why is Microsoft doing this now?

The short answer is AI. Microsoft is under pressure to hold down its running costs while it pours tens of billions of dollars into data centres and AI infrastructure, GeekWire reports. Data centres are giant buildings full of computers that run AI tools. Microsoft's results for the latest quarter are due on Wednesday, and investors will look for signs that this spending is paying off, Mint reports.

Think of your pocket money. If you decide to save for a new laptop, you spend less on snacks and movies. Companies do the same. When a lot of money goes into AI, they look for savings elsewhere, and staff costs are one of the biggest bills.

Mint notes that Microsoft's headcount has been largely flat since 2022, around the time it began spending heavily on AI and data centres.

Has Microsoft done this before?

Yes, but on a smaller scale. Earlier in 2026, it ran its first ever Voluntary Retirement Program. That went to about 8,750 US employees whose age and years at the company added up to a set number, GeekWire reports, and about 30% of them took it.

That did not stop layoffs. Microsoft still cut 4,800 roles in July 2026, about 2% of its workforce, and hundreds more in September. It cut more than 15,000 roles in 2025.

Before and after panels: spring 2026 retirement offer for about 8,750 US staff based on age, and the October 2026 exit offer for about 60,000 staff in four countries with no age rule — From a small retirement offer to a much wider exit offer.

Are layoffs over, then?

No. Microsoft says the new offer is not a replacement for layoffs, which will remain part of its approach depending on business conditions, according to GeekWire. The company also says the offer is not a sign that it needs fewer people.

Coleman called the programme "new for us" in her note and said the company will learn from it. How many of the 60,000 say yes could decide whether such offers become a regular thing at Microsoft, and maybe at other big tech companies too.

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As it was first published

Microsoft offers about 60,000 staff, including some in India, money to leave