Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to eligible employees in the US, Canada, India and the UK, as the company faces mounting pressure to control costs amid record spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The programme covers almost all employees below the C-suite and executive level across divisions including Copilot, finance, human resources and Xbox, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source. Marketing, commercial business and security teams are excluded.
Employees must notify Microsoft of their decision in December, with those accepting the offer set to leave on December 31, CNBC reported.
The move comes six months after Microsoft launched its first-ever voluntary early retirement programme, offering it to around 7% of its US workforce, or approximately 8,750 employees. The company said 30% of those who received the offer accepted it. Three months later, Microsoft cut another 4,800 jobs.
Microsoft is under growing financial pressure to rein in operating expenses while funding the expansion of its AI business. The company plans to spend between $175 billion and $190 billion in 2026 on data centres, cooling systems, energy infrastructure and custom AI hardware.
Investors have increasingly questioned whether technology companies are spending too heavily on AI relative to the returns they can generate. Microsoft is seeking to monetise the technology through its Copilot assistant, which integrates generative AI into corporate workflows, and its Azure cloud platform, which provides computing capacity for training and running advanced AI models, including those developed by partner OpenAI.
Microsoft has forecast Azure revenue growth of around 45% for the first quarter of fiscal 2027.
The cuts also reflect broader pressure across the technology industry. According to employment consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the sector accounts for around 30% of all announced job cuts in 2026, more than any other industry.
Oracle has said it would eliminate between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs, while Amazon announced around 30,000 corporate job cuts between late 2025 and early 2026. Meta also began laying off approximately 8,000 employees in May. The companies have cited the need to free up billions of dollars for AI infrastructure investment.
Forbes valuation
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had an estimated net worth of $119 billion on Monday, ranking him the world’s 16th-richest person. His wealth has risen by around 10% this year, while Microsoft shares have gained 12%. Gates owns less than 1% of the company.
Other billionaires associated with Microsoft include former chief executive Steve Ballmer, with an estimated $163.8 billion fortune; current CEO Satya Nadella, worth $1.4 billion; and early employee Charles Simonyi, whose net worth is estimated at $8.8 billion.
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