Microsoft is opening a new round of cuts. The company offered a voluntary buyout program on Monday to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce, according to reports by CNBC, Bloomberg and TechCrunch. The offer is time-limited: employees must decide whether to take it by early December, and those who do will leave the company on December 31.
Who is eligible
According to the reports, the offer covers employees in the US, Canada, the UK and India at level 70 and below. Areas included are AI experiences and Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox, and Windows and Devices. Marketing, commercial sales, security and data center roles are excluded, according to the reports.
This is already the second round this year. In an earlier round, offered to about 8,750 employees in the US, more than 30 percent of those eligible accepted. In July Microsoft also announced 4,800 layoffs. According to Calcalist, the company expects fewer employees to accept this time, and does not rule out layoffs if its targets are not met.
The money flows to AI
The backdrop is clear: Microsoft, like the other tech giants, is spending unprecedented sums on data centers and AI chips, and is looking for ways to balance the costs. It is the same week in which Meta announced plans to raise up to $95 billion in stock to fund its AI infrastructure. The picture taking shape is clear: capital is shifting from manpower to computing power.
The Israeli angle
Israel is not one of the four countries where the buyout program is offered. However, Calcalist reported this month that about 50 employees on the Copilot Studio team at Microsoft's Israel R&D center were called to pre-dismissal hearings as part of a broader reorganization. According to the report, about half are expected to remain in other roles at the Israeli center. No report links the hearings in Israel to the current buyout program.
For Israeli tech workers, the move is another sign that even at the largest and most profitable companies, job security can no longer be taken for granted. The very areas at the heart of the AI revolution, such as Copilot, are included in the cuts, while security and data centers, the infrastructure everything depends on, are protected for now.
