Microsoft has introduced a new voluntary exit program covering approximately 60,000 employees across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India, expanding its workforce-reduction options following thousands of job cuts and a voluntary retirement initiative earlier this year.

The Voluntary Exit Offer, announced in an internal memo on Monday, is open to eligible employees across participating teams, including some executives, according to the company, as reported by GeekWire.

The eligible group represents roughly a quarter of Microsoft's global workforce, which stood at 223,000 full-time employees as of June 30. The company has not disclosed how many workers it expects to accept the offer but anticipates participation will be significantly lower than in its earlier voluntary retirement program.

“This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support,” Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer, wrote in the memo.

Coleman said the initiative would also give participating business units another way to adjust their workforces to changing operational needs.

Microsoft said the offer was not an indication that the company necessarily needed fewer employees, describing it as one of several measures to adapt to evolving business priorities.

The voluntary exit package includes financial compensation and career-transition support. According to Microsoft, the terms are equivalent to its standard severance arrangements and include base pay determined by an employee's tenure and level, continued stock vesting, healthcare coverage for a fixed period and career-planning services.

Unlike the retirement program introduced this spring, the new offer does not include extended healthcare coverage, which was a significant incentive for some employees considering retirement.

There are no age or length-of-service requirements, and performance ratings will not determine eligibility. The offer extends up to level 70 on Microsoft's internal job scale, covering general managers and some employees with vice president titles, but excluding corporate vice presidents.

Eligible employees have until the first week of December to decide whether to accept the offer.

Participation will vary across the company. Business leaders will determine whether their teams take part, based on operational priorities, customer commitments and staffing requirements. Microsoft's sales organization, along with some engineering groups and corporate functions, will not participate.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee,” Coleman wrote.

The new initiative follows Microsoft's first-ever voluntary retirement program, introduced in the United States this spring. That offer was restricted to employees at senior director level and below who met a minimum combined threshold based on their age and years of service.

Approximately 30% of the 8,750 employees eligible for that program accepted the offer. Coleman said in July that the resulting workforce reductions helped reduce the scale of layoffs announced that month.

Microsoft employed 223,000 full-time workers at the end of June, down from 228,000 a year earlier, according to its annual filings. The figures predated the company's July job cuts.

The company eliminated approximately 4,800 positions in July, representing around 2% of its global workforce, including about 600 jobs in Washington state. Further cuts affected hundreds of employees in September. Microsoft also eliminated more than 15,000 jobs in 2025.

The company has said the voluntary exit program will not replace layoffs, which will remain an option depending on business conditions.

Microsoft's workforce restructuring comes as the company faces pressure to control operating expenses while investing tens of billions of dollars in data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Like other major technology companies, Microsoft has been adjusting staffing levels and organizational structures as it directs resources towards AI development and other strategic priorities.

The company has also sought to redeploy existing employees into different roles. In July, Microsoft said it had moved more than 4,000 employees into new positions over the preceding year.

Coleman previously said Microsoft was examining whether voluntary departures could become a more regular part of its workforce management strategy, potentially on an annual or ongoing basis.

Microsoft was scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, when investors could receive further details about the potential cost of the new offer. The company disclosed a $900 million charge for its earlier voluntary retirement program in its April earnings report. (ILKHA)