Microsoft plans first-ever voluntary employee buyout for up to 7% of U.S. workforce

microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to some us employees for the first time in its 51-year history. about 7% of the us workforce is eligible — roughly 8,750 people based on june 2025 headcount of 125,000 us employees. the one-time retirement program targets workers at senior director level and below whose age plus years of employment equals 70 or more. eligible employees and their managers get details on may 7. people with sales incentive plans can't participate. the buyout memo went out thursday from chief people officer amy coleman. she said the goal is to give eligible workers "the choice to take that next step on their own terms." microsoft is also simplifying its review process — managers will pick from five pay options instead of nine — and decoupling stock rewards from cash bonuses. the company has been pouring capital into data centers for ai workloads, matching moves by alphabet and amazon. last year microsoft cut costs through multiple layoff rounds.