Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 staff as AI reshapes workforce

While Meta seeks record $97.5bn to finance AI expansion

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to a full quarter of its global employees as it seeks to reduce costs and reshape its workforce for the AI era.

The programme will be available to eligible employees at vice-president level and below in selected teams across the US, Canada, India and the UK, according to a note from the company's chief people officer, Amy Coleman.

Coleman said the Voluntary Exit Offer was intended to give employees greater flexibility and more control over their future careers.

The company will notify eligible employees by email, providing a link to details of the offer. The terms are expected to be similar to Microsoft's standard severance arrangements.

According to Bloomberg, teams involved include Windows, Copilot, Xbox and Finance. Some groups, including employees working in datacentres, sales and marketing, will be excluded.

In her note, Coleman said the programme built on lessons from an earlier voluntary retirement initiative and was designed to provide another option for staff considering leaving the company.

She added that Microsoft would continue to help employees develop new skills and explore opportunities within the business where appropriate.

The company described the initiative as a new approach that it would assess as it sought to meet different business needs.

Microsoft employed about 223,000 people at the end of June, making the buyout programme a potentially significant workforce adjustment, offered to one-quarter of employees - although it is not yet clear how many will accept the deal.

Buyouts offer alternative to mass redundancies

The voluntary programme provides Microsoft with a way to reduce its workforce without relying exclusively on compulsory redundancies.

It follows an earlier initiative aimed at employees approaching retirement age. More than 30% of approximately 8,750 eligible workers accepted that offer.

Microsoft has invested heavily in AI infrastructure and products, including its Copilot assistants, while integrating AI capabilities across its software and cloud services.

The company has not said how much it expects to save through the new buyout programme or whether further workforce changes are planned.

Meta seeks record $97.5 billion to finance AI expansion

Meanwhile, rival technology giant Meta Platforms has expanded its fundraising plans to $97.5 billion as it seeks to finance an ambitious expansion of its AI infrastructure.

The company plans to raise $25 billion through a common stock offering priced at $625 per share, up from an earlier proposal of $22.5 billion.

It has also priced 250 million convertible preferred depositary shares at $50 each, giving that portion of the offering a value of $12.5 billion.

Meta is additionally planning a separate programme to sell up to $60 billion in shares over time at prevailing market prices.

Chipmakers Nvidia and AMD have separately announced investments of $3 billion and $1 billion in Meta's equity offering. Broadcom has also expressed interest in participating.

The involvement of major chip suppliers illustrates concerns about the increasingly interconnected financing arrangements emerging across the AI industry, where hardware manufacturers may help fund customers that are purchasing their products.

Meta has committed to substantial future spending on datacentres, computing capacity and AI-related infrastructure as it competes with companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.

However, the investment programme is putting pressure on its finances.

The company reported negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion in the third quarter, compared with positive free cash flow of $10.63 billion a year earlier.

Meta held $82.45 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of September, alongside $80.92 billion in long-term debt, according to its latest quarterly filing.