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

Microsoft plans to offer buyouts to about 60,000 workers as part of the company’s efforts to trim costs and retool its workforce as it invests heavily in AI. That amounts to just over a quarter of its total staff.

Select personnel in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and India at the vice president level and below will be eligible for a Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO), Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, said in a note to staff today. Microsoft had 223,000 employees as of the end of June, a number that was down from 228,000 at the end of 2025.

According to Bloomberg, the cuts come amid a focus on AI, with costly data centers supplying cloud services to the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI. In June, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed community backlash to the company's massive AI data center buildout, which has sparked concern over power costs, environmental concerns, and the potential impact on jobs. …