Microsoft offers voluntary exit to 60,000 employees, read full memo here

Microsoft is offering voluntary exits to over a quarter of its workforce. 60,000 employees across countries, including India, will receive this option. Here is what Microsoft's chief people officer Amy Coleman said in an internal memo.

In Short

• Eligible staff at level 70 or below receive individual offer details
• AI, Copilot, finance, HR, Xbox and Windows divisions are included
• Marketing, commercial business and security teams remain outside the programme

Microsoft is offering employees the option to voluntarily leave the company. As per reports, the tech giant is giving about 60,000 employees the option to take a voluntary exit, roughly accounting for 27 per cent of its global workforce.

On Monday, Microsoft’s chief people officer Amy Coleman announced the voluntary exit options (VEO) in an internal memo. ““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 said. "It also gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs."

Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees worldwide as of June 30, 2026, according to its annual filing.

Who is eligible for Microsoft’s voluntary exit?

According to Coleman, the offer will be available for eligible employees across India, Canada, the UK, and the US, at level 70 or below. This covers a large portion of Microsoft employees. But interested employees must make their decision quickly. “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,” she added.

As per Reuters, employees across divisions including AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows and Devices will be eligible. However, marketing, commercial business and security teams have been excluded.

Eligible employees will receive an email containing details of their individual offer. According to CNBC, employees must inform the company in December if they plan to accept the offer, and those who do will leave on December 31.

This is the second time Microsoft has offered voluntary exits. The company offered voluntary retirement packages to about 7 per cent of its US workforce, or roughly 9,000 employees, six months earlier. The company said about 30 per cent of those who received the offer accepted it. If the same proportion accepts the latest offer, about 20,000 employees could leave.

In July, Microsoft announced plans to cut 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1 per cent of its global workforce. The restructuring included changes to its Xbox gaming business and the divestment of up to five studios after years of investment in the division.

At the same time, the company is investing heavily in data centres, chips, liquid cooling systems, energy grids and custom AI hardware. It has forecast capital expenditure of $175 billion for the 2026 calendar year.

You can read the full memo below:

“Today, we’re introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer to eligible employees within participating organisations. 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 organisations 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 learnt earlier this year through the Voluntary Retirement Programme.

What employees should know

This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary programme that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career-planning resources. Some organisations 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 one another.

Amy”

- Ends