Microsoft offers voluntary exit package to 60,000 staff in four countries

Microsoft is offering a voluntary exit package to about 60,000 employees in the UK, US, Canada and India, giving eligible staff financial support and career planning resources if they leave by 31 December. The offer matters because it could reduce the company’s workforce, although Microsoft says it has no target for how many people should accept and does not expect everyone to take it.

The offer is available in participating organisations to employees at or below vice-president level, with the terms varying by business needs. Microsoft had about 223,000 employees in June 2026 and has since cut around 4,800 roles; if acceptance matched Google’s 3 to 5 per cent take-up of a similar offer, between 1,800 and 3,000 Microsoft employees might leave. Microsoft says the programme follows feedback on an earlier retirement offer and is not driven by automation.