Microsoft made separation offers to 60 thousand employees

The Microsoft departure offer was made to the company's 60,000 employees worldwide, accounting for more than a quarter of its total workforce. The program was announced on October 26, 2026, and became the largest voluntary separation plan in Microsoft history. Moreover, the company continues to invest billions of dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

How is a Microsoft separation offer calculated?

Pay varies depending on position and seniority. For example, employees are given one week's salary for every 6 months of work. The upper limit is the amount equivalent to 12 months' salary.

Depending on seniority, stock vesting will take another 6 or 12 months. Additionally, in some cases, health insurance is also included in the package. Employees will decide by the beginning of December, because they must leave the company no later than December 31, 2026.

Microsoft human resources director Amy Coleman stated that the resignation offer offers employees the opportunity to move on to a new phase in their careers with financial support. On the other hand, finance director Amy Hood said she expected very few people to accept the offer because of the development opportunities within the company.

The wave of layoffs in 2026

The new program is a continuation of the contraction that continued throughout the year. In fact, in April, Microsoft offered a retirement program to 8,750 employees in the US, and more than 30% of them accepted. Approximately 4,800 positions were closed worldwide in July. About a fifth of those positions exited the Xbox unit.

As of June 2026, 223 thousand people were working in the company. This figure is 5 thousand people less than a year ago. However, analysts see voluntary programs like the Microsoft separation offer as a way to reduce personnel costs without the reputational cost of compulsory layoffs. Still, Microsoft continues to allocate large resources to data center construction, chip procurement and artificial intelligence partnerships.

Open letter from employees

After the Microsoft separation offer was announced, the open letter of the employee group Concerned Microsoft Workers came to the fore again. First of all, the authors find the working environment at the company demoralizing. They also criticize the "speed at all costs" approach to artificial intelligence.

According to the letter, employees are being forced to learn new tools without adequate training and justification. They then spend time correcting the mistakes the AI ​​made. In addition, the authors suggest that the use of artificial intelligence tools is associated with performance evaluation and disciplinary processes.

Data center projects are also criticized in the letter. Additionally, Microsoft's contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is on target. There are also contracts with the Israeli military and mutual investments between major artificial intelligence companies. The authors demand that workers be protected and the interests of local communities are taken into account in the artificial intelligence process. Finally, they also want confirmation of the company's 2030 targets: negative carbon, positive water balance and zero waste to landfill.

The decision period for the Microsoft separation proposal lasts until the beginning of December. Accordingly, those who accept will leave Microsoft on December 31, 2026 at the latest.