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Microsoft to reportedly offer buyouts to 60,000 employees in latest cuts

Microsoft announced that it would offer buyouts to 60,000 employees in an effort to reduce costs amid the rising use of artificial intelligence, according to reports, the latest example of how AI is reshaping tech companies and the greater workforce. This is the latest of several trimmings Microsoft has made to its workforce this year. The company announced in April that it was offering voluntary retirement to about 7% of its US workforce, which consisted of about 125,000 employees at the time. Its global workfo…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2282· cite & verify
Microsoft to reportedly offer buyouts to 60,000 employees in latest cuts

In brief

Microsoft is reportedly offering voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees as part of efforts to cut costs while AI use grows. Divisions including Xbox, Windows and Copilot would take part, while cybersecurity, datacenters and marketing staff are not eligible.

The offer extends a year of workforce reductions across big tech companies that cite AI and heavy investment in it. It matters because it points to AI reshaping employment, yet it remains unclear whether the cuts have produced real efficiency, and the reports rest partly on Bloomberg's account.

Main points

  1. Microsoft's buyout offer reportedly covers 60,000 employees, out of a global workforce of about 223,000.
  2. Xbox, Windows and Copilot are among participating divisions; cybersecurity, datacenters and marketing are excluded.
  3. In April Microsoft offered voluntary retirement to about 7% of its roughly 125,000 US workforce.
  4. Meta planned to cut about 8,000 jobs, and Oracle cut 21,000 jobs in June, as a result of AI.

The problem

Microsoft's reported buyout offer to 60,000 employees, alongside cuts at Meta, Amazon and Oracle, shows AI-linked cost reduction is shrinking tech workforces without proven productivity gains.

The rundown

Bloomberg reported the offer on Monday, and Microsoft's chief people officer Amy Coleman described it as a new choice for employees considering a future outside the company and a way for organizations to adapt their workforce to changing needs.

Other tech firms have made similar moves this year: Meta announced a 10% personnel cut in April, Amazon has made several cuts most recently in retail, and Oracle shed nearly 13% of its workforce in June.

Evidence of payoff is thin. Some companies including Meta have scaled back layoff plans, and a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper found that 90% of 9,000 surveyed senior executives said AI had yet to deliver greater productivity.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-10-26

The debate