Tech company Microsoft, on Monday, said it is offering buyouts to about 60,000 of its global workforce to cut costs and free up resources for massive funding of its AI investments.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice-president and chief people officer, announced in a statement on Monday that the voluntary exit offer “is time-limited”.
“Today, we’re introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organisations,” Ms Coleman said. “This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support.”
She added that the voluntary programme “gives those who are eligible” the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources.
Mrs Coleman explained the “offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below”.
This move comes as Microsoft continues to prune its workforce in recent months, while making huge investments in its AI projects.
Earlier in the year, Microsoft offered similar buyout opportunities to about 9,000 employees, who made up seven per cent of its U.S. workforce. The tech company also announced in July that it would cut about 4,800 jobs globally.