Microsoft Opens Buyouts to 60,000 Staff, Xbox Included

Drama

27 October 2026 08:41

This is one of the biggest layoff rounds in tech.

Around 60,000 people will be eligible for Microsoft’s new Voluntary Exit Offer, roughly 25% of a 223,000-strong workforce, across Canada, India, the UK and the US at Level 70 and below.

According to reports the divisions include AI experiences, Copilot, finance, HR, Windows + Devices and Xbox. Marketing, commercial business and security are excluded.

Chief people officer Amy Coleman’s memo, in full:

Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer

Today, we’re introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organizations. 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 orgs another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs.

The Voluntary Exit Offer 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 Program.

What employees should know

This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, United Kingdom and United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources. Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based 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.

Looking ahead

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. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.

My promise is to continue to provide clarity, listen and learn, and keep improving.

Thank you for everything you continue to do for our customers, Microsoft, and for one another.

Amy

Why now

Some reports state it as balancing a costly AI infrastructure build-out. Microsoft expenditure hit 41 billion dollars in a quarter, with around 175 billion more planned.

That spending is also a major driver of the memory shortage now inflating console prices, Microsoft’s own included.

For Xbox, which is three-quarters through cutting 3,200 roles with more rounds reported for November and January, this adds a voluntary route out alongside the involuntary ones.

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Tags: Microsoft

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