Microsoft Executive: Voluntary Exit Plan Is Not Aimed at Cutting 60,000 Jobs

A Microsoft executive said the company’s broad voluntary separation plan is not intended to cut 60,000 jobs. According to Sina Finance, citing IT Home and Business Insider, Microsoft’s CFO Amy Hood said in an internal memo that the plan gives employees who want to leave the choice to decide how to do so, and that only a “very small number” were expected to accept. Microsoft later said no more than 3,000 employees, or 5% or less of those eligible, were expected to take the offer. Earlier this year, about one-third of employees accepted a voluntary retirement plan based on age and tenure. Microsoft later conducted layoffs, and some employees who had declined the retirement offer were dismissed. In response to concerns about further cuts, the company said future staffing would depend on business needs and priorities. Executives said the new plan differs from the earlier one: some departing employees’ roles may be filled by new hires rather than eliminated. Charles Lamanna, who oversees AI, Office and Word, made employees across his departments eligible to apply, with plans to hire for key vacancies. In Microsoft’s Cloud and AI division, the Azure hardware systems and infrastructure team and the cloud operations and innovation team did not participate. Most other teams offered eligibility, and some roles could be refilled. An executive said replacing senior employees with less-experienced hires could reduce labor costs, but a Microsoft spokesperson said this was not the company’s official position. An anonymous executive also said the plan may address complaints from employees who were ineligible for the earlier offer, and that Microsoft did not intend to cut 60,000 workers or replace everyone with AI. The U.S. government recently suspended Microsoft’s eligibility for a federal employer sponsorship program that allows companies to sponsor foreign employees seeking U.S. permanent residency. The White House accused Microsoft of laying off U.S. employees while hiring lower-paid foreign workers; Microsoft denied the allegation.