Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to a quarter of its workforce in major plan

A large voluntary exit offer

Microsoft’s offer covers 60,000 workers. Coleman described the voluntary exit offer as new for the company and said it would learn from the program. Coleman also said Microsoft would continue helping employees focus on important work, develop skills and pursue other opportunities within the company where appropriate.

Earlier workforce reductions

The new plan is much larger than a buyout effort previously reported for Microsoft’s US operations. The company’s workforce stood at approximately 223,000 full-time employees at the end of June.

In July, Microsoft said it would cut 4,800 jobs, representing about 2.1 percent of its global workforce. The cuts included many employees in its Xbox video game business.

Costs tied to AI investment

Investment in data centers to support artificial intelligence is expected to exceed $700 billion this year. The spending has increased costs for memory chips, processors and other equipment, as well as electricity.

Economists expect the effects to keep pushing inflation higher at least through the end of the year. Microsoft is scheduled to publish quarterly financial results on Wednesday.