Microsoft has put 60,000 jobs at risk worldwide by offering voluntary redundancy packages to more than a quarter of its global workforce.
The software company is rolling out the exit scheme as it pours money into artificial intelligence, with staff across the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom eligible to apply.
The offer applies to employees at vice-president level and below out of Microsoft's total global workforce of 223,000. Certain roles are excluded from the programme, including some employees working on data centres, sales and marketing.
Around 6,000 staff based in the UK will be among those eligible for a buyout package. Amy Coleman, the company's head of human resources, announced the scheme in a memo to staff.
"The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: Creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Coleman said in the internal memo.
Second buyout this year
The move marks the second voluntary buyout programme Microsoft has offered to its workforce this year. In April, the company reportedly offered around 7 per cent of its US workforce the option to take early retirement, with around 30 per cent of eligible employees accepting the deal, according to CNBC.
Microsoft is expected to report its quarterly earnings this week. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft is best known for its Windows operating system, productivity software, and Azure cloud computing platform, and has emerged as a major backer of generative artificial intelligence technologies.
Major technology giants continue to spend heavily on artificial intelligence investments, prompting persistent concerns about the impact of the technology on employment. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are collectively on track to pour roughly £524 billion into AI data centres, chips and computing infrastructure this year alone.
Wider tech industry job cuts
The Microsoft buyout offer comes amid widespread job reductions across the global technology sector. Video streaming service Netflix is reportedly set to cut around 6 per cent of its workforce, which amounts to roughly 1,000 jobs.
Online auction site eBay laid off 1,000 employees this month, following an earlier round of cuts this year that affected some 800 positions. In May, Facebook owner Meta laid off around 10 per cent of its global workforce, impacting about 8,000 staff members.
Ride-hailing firm Uber said in September that it would lay off around 10 per cent of its staff, affecting an estimated 3,000 workers. E-commerce giant Amazon also announced 16,000 global job cuts in January as companies adjust their spending toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.
