Tech giant Microsoft has announced a voluntary exit offer aimed at significantly reducing its workforce. About 60,000 employees across several countries, including India, are eligible for the plan, a prospect that has sent shockwaves through the technology sector. The impact is likely to be felt at Microsoft’s Hyderabad office, the second largest in the world.
Under Microsoft’s internal grading system, employees at Level 70 and below are eligible. The offer carries no age limit or minimum service requirement, and it is not linked to an employee’s performance. However, it does not apply to all divisions. Sales, marketing, security and certain specific engineering divisions are excluded, while employees in divisions such as Copilot, CoreAI, Windows+Devices, Xbox, Finance and HR can opt to leave the company.
Microsoft has about 23,000 employees in India, most of them working in technology, engineering and corporate support, including Copilot, AI and cloud teams. It remains unclear how many of them are covered by the plan. After the Redmond campus, which houses its headquarters, the Hyderabad campus is Microsoft’s largest engineering hub, with more than 10,000 employees. The company also has offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Noida.
Employees who accept the offer will receive financial assistance in the form of the company’s standard severance package. Microsoft said it would provide the resources they need to plan their next move and search for new employment.
Microsoft Chief People Officer Amy Coleman explained that, rather than laying off employees directly, the company proposed the plan to give those wishing to explore new career paths a dignified way to exit. The offer is seen as an alternative to forced layoffs. It is aimed at restructuring the workforce in line with heavy investments in AI and the company’s priorities. Internally, the growing use of AI tools such as Copilot has raised productivity, allowing more work to be completed with fewer employees, and the company is reducing headcount accordingly.