Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 staff as AI spending reshapes its workforce

Microsoft has offered voluntary exit packages to about 60,000 employees, a figure the company declined to confirm when asked, according to Token Times. The offer is time-limited and open to eligible staff in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below, Microsoft said in a blog post.

The buyouts reach some of the company's most closely watched divisions, including AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices, a source familiar with the matter said. Marketing, commercial business and security units are excluded from the programme, the same source said.

Microsoft described the programme as voluntary and said it builds on insights gained from a previous voluntary retirement scheme. The company did not immediately comment on the number of employees affected.

The move lands as investors weigh the cost of the artificial intelligence build-out against its returns. Anthropic's IPO filing, which shows rapid growth alongside heavy spending, has added to scrutiny of AI economics, and Microsoft's decision to trim headcount in the very units driving its Copilot push signals that the spending is being matched against staffing.

For the 60,000 employees in scope, the offer is a deadline as much as a choice: a time-limited window to leave on the company's terms while it reshapes its workforce around AI.