By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, October 29 (Radarr Africa) – Microsoft has offered voluntary exit packages to about 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its global workforce, as the company manages costs while spending heavily on artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to Nairametrics, Euronews and BNN Bloomberg.
The company announced the offer on Monday, 26 October, as a “time-limited, voluntary program”, Euronews reported. Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer, announced it in a memo to staff, and eligible employees were told they would receive an email with a link to their offers “in the coming hours”.
The offer is open to employees on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, Euronews said. It applies to staff “at level 70 and below”, so some senior employees may qualify. BNN Bloomberg described the cut-off as vice-president level and below and said the 60,000 eligible staff represent roughly 27% of the workforce. Microsoft had 223,000 full-time employees at 30 June 2026, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings cited by BNN Bloomberg.
None of the reports gave payout amounts or a deadline for the offer. Euronews said the programme offers financial support and career planning resources.
Nairametrics, citing Reuters, reported that an unnamed source said the units covered include AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox, and Windows and Devices. Marketing, the commercial business and security are excluded, according to that account. BNN Bloomberg reported that some employees working on data centres and in sales and marketing are also excluded.
Coleman said the programme gives participating organisations “another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs”, according to Nairametrics. The company said it also helps employees who may be considering a future outside Microsoft to make that move now with support. Microsoft said the programme builds on lessons from an earlier voluntary retirement scheme.
That earlier scheme was offered in April to about 7% of Microsoft’s US workforce, roughly 9,000 employees, BNN Bloomberg and Nairametrics reported. About 30% of those eligible took it, BNN Bloomberg said, citing CNBC. Euronews said Microsoft told staff it would “continue exploring similar approaches in the future”.
In July, Microsoft cut about 4,800 jobs, roughly 2.1% of its global workforce at the time, mainly in its Xbox and commercial divisions, according to Euronews. Nairametrics said that round was tied to restructuring the Xbox business and divesting up to five studios.
The buyout offer comes as the large technology companies pour money into AI infrastructure. BNN Bloomberg reported that Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are on track to spend roughly $700 billion on AI infrastructure this year. Microsoft spent $41 billion from April to June and expected to spend $50 billion from July to September, the report said.
Microsoft has lowered its calendar-year 2026 spending forecast to $175 billion from $190 billion, BNN Bloomberg said. Chief financial officer Amy Hood told analysts that about two-thirds of the spending goes on short-lived assets, mainly chips, because of customer demand. Nairametrics reported that investors are scrutinising whether the investments will earn sufficient returns.
Other technology companies have also cut staff this year. Oracle shed about 21,000 employees over the prior year, with $1.8 billion in severance and restructuring charges reported in June, Nairametrics said. Meta notified employees of about 8,000 planned job cuts in May. BNN Bloomberg also listed Amazon, which announced 16,000 cuts in January, along with Uber, Netflix and eBay.
A July report cited by Nairametrics found that the ten largest technology layoff announcements globally affected more than 76,000 workers.
Microsoft was expected to report quarterly earnings later this week, BNN Bloomberg said.
