Microsoft announces ‘Voluntary Exit Offer’ reportedly covering 60,000 employees

Microsoft is offering eligible employees financial support and career planning resources if they voluntarily leave the company under a new program announced Monday.

While The Seattle Times described the offers as buyouts available to about 60,000 employees — roughly a quarter of Microsoft’s workforce — in an effort to avoid more layoffs, Microsoft called the program a “Voluntary Exit Offer.”

A spokesperson told KIRO Newsradio the company is not positioning it as a buyout. Microsoft’s announcement did not provide an employee count or say the program was intended to avoid layoffs.

The company cut about 15,000 jobs last year, including 3,200 jobs in Washington.

Who is eligible for Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer?

The time-limited program is available to eligible employees at level 70 and below on participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Not every organization within Microsoft is participating. Eligibility varies based on business priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs, according to Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer.

“This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support,” Coleman wrote in a blog post. “It also gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs.”

Eligible employees will receive an email with details of their offer.

Microsoft says program builds on earlier retirement offer

Coleman said the program builds on lessons from Microsoft’s Voluntary Retirement Program earlier this year.

The company will also continue helping employees develop skills and, where appropriate, find other opportunities within Microsoft, she said.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee,” Coleman wrote. “These are a few of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.”

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