Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to About 60,000 Employees

In depth

Microsoft has offered its employees a voluntary buyout program covering about 60,000 employees in four countries: the U.S., Canada, India and Britain. According to Globes, the offer targets about 26% of the company's employees worldwide. According to Calcalist, it amounts to 27% of the workforce, out of 223,000 employees employed as of the end of September.

According to Globes, the program does not include Israel. According to Bizportal, the offer also includes Copilot, Xbox and Windows teams, months after the layoff of 4,800 employees.

The program follows an early retirement program announced in April, which was offered to about 7% of employees in the Americas, according to Ynet. According to Globes, in July about a third of employees accepted a similar offer of a smaller scale, but the company estimates that the acceptance rate this time will be significantly lower. According to Maariv, spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure jumped above $50 billion in the quarter, and according to Israel Hayom, the company is seeking to streamline operations.