Microsoft has opened a voluntary exit offer to as many as 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce, the company says. Eligible staff in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below may apply, and must decide by early December; those who accept leave on 31 Dec. The offer is the largest of its kind so far, following a retirement offer limited to about 9,000 staff earlier this year and a layoff of 4,800 months ago. Microsoft expects only a small share of eligible employees to accept. The company employed about 223,000 people as of 30 June, down from 228,000 a year earlier.
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3 stories since 27 October 2026, newest first
31 October 2026
28 October 2026
Several AI-related developments were reported on 30–31 Oct. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic said they will restrict their AI crawlers from sites that carry a new shared opt-out token, and Meta signalled support without confirming it will honour it. Dartmouth College provost Santiago Schnell resigned after a committee found he had not disclosed significant AI use in an academic paper and a Washington Post op-ed. Data center energy use is forecast to more than double by 2030 compared with 2024, when it stood at about 420 terawatt-hours.
27 October 2026
Microsoft is offering voluntary exit packages to roughly 60,000 employees, about 27% of its workforce, in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. The company says eligibility covers staff at level 70 or below and vice presidents and below. Employees must accept by the first week of December, with departures on 31 Dec. The offer follows an April early retirement scheme that about 30% of those eligible accepted, and a July cut of 4,800 jobs. Microsoft is spending heavily on AI data centers while reducing headcount to trim costs. Shares rose about 1% on Monday, 26 Oct.