Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers, 27% of its staff, with exits set for Dec. 31

Microsoft said Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to a wide swath of employees. About 60,000 people are eligible, roughly 27% of a workforce of about 223,000, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The 60,000 count comes from that unnamed source, not from a Microsoft filing.

What is on the table

The Voluntary Exit Offer covers certain workers in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. at an experience level of 70 or below. Employees must decide in December, and those who accept leave on Dec. 31. In a note to staff, chief people officer Amy Coleman said the offer reflects "creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter."

According to CNBC's source, the offer reaches the vice president level, a step above April's program, which covered senior directors and below. Microsoft has no target number this time, and some marketing, sales and engineering teams have decided not to participate.

Why now

CNBC ties the move to the cost of AI infrastructure. Microsoft is spending heavily on data centers to supply cloud services to Anthropic, OpenAI and others. CNBC reported that Microsoft's free cash flow stayed positive last quarter but fell 23% from a year earlier, while Alphabet and Amazon both reported negative free cash flow.

Voluntary exits are a cheaper and quieter way to trim payroll than layoffs. Microsoft announced its first-ever voluntary retirement program in April, which over 30% of eligible workers took, per CNBC. It announced layoffs in July.

The stock

Microsoft shares traded at $529.85 at 12:41 PM ET Monday, up $5.34 or 1.02%, according to Nasdaq's quote feed. Our chart of the past year shows the stock about 2.5% below its Oct. 13 high.

Who it hits

Tech recruiters and the Seattle-area and Bengaluru job markets will feel this first, since a December decision means many exits land at once on Dec. 31. For vendors that sell to Microsoft teams, expect reorganized contacts in January. Participation is the number to watch: if take-up resembles April's, tens of thousands of departures are possible, though Microsoft has not said how many it expects.

Sources: CNBC; Nasdaq quote data; Bloomberg and Investing.com carried the same headline figure. Some data may be delayed. This is market information, not investment advice.