REDMOND, Washington / RankWire.AI / – Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to a wide range of employees as it balances a costly artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out with capital efficiency. The new voluntary exit offer covers certain workers in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom at experience level 70 or below. Around 60,000 people are eligible, according to a person familiar with the matter. That is about 27% of Microsoft’s total workforce of 223,000.
Employees must decide whether to accept the offer in early December, and those who take part will leave on December 31, the person said. Some marketing, sales and engineering teams have decided not to participate. The new offer reaches higher than earlier efforts, extending to the vice president level. Microsoft does not have a participation target in mind this time, according to the person.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer, outlined the plan in a memo to employees. She said the Voluntary Exit Offer reflects how the company is evolving its approach to change, creating greater flexibility and more ways for employees to shape their next chapter. Coleman said the offer builds on lessons from the Voluntary Retirement Program introduced earlier this year.
Third workforce move this year
In April, Microsoft announced its first-ever voluntary retirement program, for which around 7% of US employees were eligible. That offer was open to staff at the senior director level of 67 and below whose age and years of service added up to at least 70. More than 30% of eligible employees took part, Microsoft said in July. The company also announced plans that month to lay off 4,800 employees.
The buyouts come as Microsoft ramps up spending on data centres to meet heavy demand for AI computing. The company supplies cloud services to Anthropic, OpenAI and many other firms. Microsoft said in July that capital expenditures for the September quarter would exceed $50 billion. In the same quarter a year earlier, capital spending and finance leases totalled $34.9 billion.
Free cash flow stays positive
Microsoft aims to make the shift without weakening its financial profile. In the April-June quarter, cloud rivals Alphabet and Amazon both reported negative free cash flow. Microsoft generated $19.64 billion in positive free cash flow over the same period, although that was down 23% from a year earlier. The company has also developed custom silicon such as the Maia 200 AI accelerator to run AI services in its data centres.
The 51-year-old maker of Windows and Office is increasingly charging clients based on how much AI they actually use. It has given programmers, sellers and supply chain workers AI tools and observed noticeable results. Microsoft also wants to ensure it has the right talent for its most promising growth opportunities. The company is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday.