Microsoft Offer Buyouts to 60,000 Workers as It Doubles Down on AI Investment

Microsoft intends to provide voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees as part of its strategy to cut expenses and adjust its workforce as it pours significant resources into AI development. This represents more than a quarter of the company's total employees. Certain personnel in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India, specifically those at the vice president level and below, will be eligible for a Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO), stated Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, in a message to the workforce.

As of June's end, Microsoft employed 223,000 individuals, a decline from 228,000 at the end of the previous year. The layoffs are part of the company's emphasis on AI, with costly data centers powering cloud services for companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. In June, Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, addressed community concerns over the company's extensive AI data center expansion, which has raised worries about energy expenses, ecological impacts, and potential job losses.

He assured that one of Microsoft's data centers' yearly water consumption is comparable to that of a single restaurant.

Certain Microsoft staff, including those involved in data centers, are excluded from the buyout offer. Employees have until December to decide whether to accept the offer, with those who do leaving Microsoft by December 31. The buyout offer follows a three-month period since Microsoft dismissed 4,800 roles, or approximately 2.1% of its global workforce.

The Xbox layoffs, which eliminated 1,600 staff in July as part of Asha Sharma's restructuring of the gaming division, were part of these cuts. Recently, an Xbox business strategist asserted that everyone in the video games sector was utilizing AI while feigning ignorance. Earlier this year, over 30% of eligible employees opted to participate in Microsoft's inaugural voluntary retirement program.