Microsoft Offers Voluntary Severance to 60,000 Employees While Exempting AI‑Critical Teams

Microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to about 60,000 employees—roughly a quarter of its workforce—across the U.S., Canada, India, and the U.K. The program targets vice‑president level or below and includes departments such as Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and Finance, but excludes data centers, sales, cybersecurity, and quantum computing, which are key to the company’s AI strategy. This is the second such program in 2026; earlier this year Microsoft offered buyouts to 8,750 U.S. employees in May and cut 4,800 jobs in July. The workforce remains around 223,000, unchanged from 2022, despite strong revenue growth. CFO Amy Hood notes that Microsoft plans to spend about $170 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, slightly below its original $175 billion target.