File photo: Microsoft campus in Hyderabad, India, 7 November 2012, not from the 26 October 2026 announcement. Photo: Rameshng, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Employees in India in participating Microsoft teams can now choose to leave with a severance package, while the company says layoffs remain possible depending on business conditions. The terms for India, and how many of the 60,000 eligible staff work there, were not in the memo or the reports read.
Microsoft has offered a buyout to about 60,000 of its employees in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The Microsoft buyout, which the company calls a Voluntary Exit Offer, was announced on Monday, 26 October 2026, in a memo from chief people officer Amy Coleman, which Microsoft also posted on its blog. People who accept get a severance-style package and leave the company; nobody is being forced out under this offer.
Microsoft gave the 60,000 figure to Business Insider and GeekWire. The company’s own blog post of the memo names the four countries and the job levels covered but does not give a number. By GeekWire’s count, 60,000 is about a quarter of Microsoft’s workforce.
Who can take the Microsoft buyout
The voluntary exit offer is open to staff at level 70 and below on Microsoft’s internal grading scale, and only in teams whose leaders have chosen to take part. Coleman wrote that participation depends on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs. Eligible employees were told they would get an email with their personal terms within a few hours of the memo.
Level 70 reaches quite high. GeekWire, citing the company, said it takes in general managers and some employees with vice president titles, though not corporate vice presidents. There is no age or length-of-service condition this time, and the company told GeekWire that job performance plays no part in who qualifies.
Not every part of Microsoft is in. Both Business Insider and GeekWire reported that the sales organisation is not participating, along with some engineering groups and some corporate functions. A source told Reuters that teams covered include Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices, and that marketing, commercial business and security are left out. The memo itself does not list the teams.
What the voluntary exit offer pays
Microsoft told GeekWire the package equals Microsoft’s standard severance: base pay linked to tenure and level, continued vesting of company shares, healthcare cover for a fixed period and help with finding the next job. It does not include the extended healthcare that came with the company’s retirement buyout earlier this year. Business Insider described the terms as similar to standard severance.
For a sense of scale, Business Insider reported what Microsoft paid in its US layoffs earlier in 2026, based on offers it reviewed. That package included at least 60 days of base pay and, for most employees, up to 39 weeks. Staff at level 64 and below received one week of base pay for every six months worked; levels 65 to 67 received two weeks.
NewsPlainly’s worked example, using that US formula only as an illustration: someone with five years at Microsoft has ten six-month periods of service. At level 64 or below that comes to 10 weeks of base pay; at levels 65 to 67 it comes to 20 weeks. Both are above the 60-day floor, which is about 8.6 weeks.
That formula is from the US Microsoft layoffs, not from the voluntary exit offer, and it is not a guide to India. None of the reports read for this article gave the terms for employees in India, or how many of the 60,000 work there.
How this compares with Microsoft’s spring retirement offer
This is Microsoft’s second buyout of 2026. In spring it ran a Voluntary Retirement Program, which GeekWire describes as the first in the company’s history. That one was far narrower, as the table shows.
| Retirement Program (spring 2026) | Voluntary Exit Offer (October 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Countries | US only | US, Canada, UK, India |
| Job levels | Senior director (level 67) and below | Level 70 and below |
| Age or tenure rule | Age plus years at Microsoft had to reach a threshold | None |
| Eligible staff | Roughly 8,750 | About 60,000 |
| Extended healthcare | Yes | No, standard severance cover |
| Who accepted | About 30% | Company expects a much smaller share |
Some quick arithmetic on those figures, done by NewsPlainly. About 30% of 8,750 is roughly 2,600 people who took the spring offer. The new pool of 60,000 is nearly seven times as large. Against the 223,000 employees Microsoft reported on 30 June 2026, it works out to 26.9%, which matches “about a quarter”. That headcount was counted before the July job cuts.
Microsoft layoffs and the cost of AI
The offer comes after a year of Microsoft layoffs. According to GeekWire, Microsoft cut more than 15,000 jobs in 2025, another 4,800 in July 2026 (about 2% of its workforce) and several hundred more in September. Its annual filing showed headcount falling from 228,000 to 223,000 in the year to 30 June.
Like other large technology companies, Microsoft is spending tens of billions of dollars on data centres and AI infrastructure, and investors are pressing it to keep other costs down. The company’s line is that the Microsoft buyout is not a sign that it needs fewer people. A spokesperson told GeekWire it is one of several ways Microsoft is adjusting to changing business needs, and that layoffs remain possible depending on conditions.
Coleman wrote in the memo that the voluntary exit offer builds on what the company learned from the retirement programme. She told GeekWire in July that the turnout for that programme had reduced the size of the layoffs announced that month.
Microsoft buyout dates to watch
- 26 October 2026: memo sent; eligible staff told to expect an email with their terms.
- 28 October 2026 (Wednesday, US time): Microsoft reports quarterly results. GeekWire noted that the results could include projections for the cost of the new offer; the April results carried a $900 million charge for the retirement programme.
- First week of December 2026: deadline for eligible employees to decide, according to GeekWire.
- End of 2026: those who accept leave the company, Business Insider reported.
A Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider there are no plans for another buyout at this time. In her memo, Amy Coleman called the offer “new for us” and said the company would learn from it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft's voluntary exit offer open to employees in India?
Yes. Microsoft's memo says it is available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the UK and the US at level 70 and below.
How many Microsoft employees are eligible for the buyout?
About 60,000, the company told Business Insider and GeekWire. That is roughly a quarter of its workforce of 223,000 reported on 30 June 2026.
What is the deadline to accept the Microsoft buyout?
Eligible staff have until the first week of December 2026 to decide, GeekWire reported, and those who accept leave at the end of the year, according to Business Insider.
Is the Microsoft buyout the same as layoffs?
No. It is voluntary: eligible staff choose whether to leave. Microsoft told GeekWire the offer does not replace layoffs, which remain possible depending on business conditions.