Microsoft has introduced a voluntary exit offer for eligible employees in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, giving them the option to leave the company with financial support and career transition assistance.
The programme covers around 60,000 employees globally, but participation will depend on individual business requirements, leaving it unclear how many of Microsoft's approximately 23,000 employees in India will qualify.
The offer is available to employees at level 70 and below in participating organisations, according to a blog post by Microsoft's Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer Amy Coleman. Eligible employees in India reportedly have until December 1 to decide whether to accept the offer.
The announcement comes as Microsoft continues to realign its workforce and faces scrutiny in the United States over its hiring of foreign workers and visa practices.
What is Microsoft's voluntary exit offer?
The Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) is a programme that allows eligible employees to leave Microsoft voluntarily in exchange for financial assistance and career planning resources. Unlike a conventional layoff, it gives qualifying employees the choice to accept an exit package rather than making their departure mandatory.
Coleman said the initiative would provide employees considering opportunities outside Microsoft with support to make the transition, while giving participating businesses another way to adjust their workforce to changing requirements.
"This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating organisations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs," Coleman said in her blog post.
The programme is a new initiative for Microsoft, and the company has indicated that it will assess how it works. "The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us. We'll learn from it," Coleman added.
Employees in which countries are eligible?
The offer covers eligible employees in four countries: India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Approximately 60,000 employees across these markets are reportedly covered by the rollout. However, this figure does not mean that all 60,000 employees will leave Microsoft or that every employee in these countries can accept the offer.
Eligibility is restricted to employees at level 70 and below in participating organisations. These levels refer to Microsoft's internal job grades, which span different levels of seniority.
The company has also clarified that the programme will not be available uniformly across its operations. Some organisations will participate, while others will not, depending on business priorities, customer commitments and workforce requirements.
Eligible employees will receive emails containing the specific terms of their offers, according to the company.
How much money will employees receive?
The exit package is understood to resemble a standard severance arrangement, including one month's base salary for every completed year of service, along with health insurance and career transition services.
The financial support is intended to help employees manage the period between leaving Microsoft and moving to another job or career opportunity.
However, the precise terms may vary according to individual offers. Employees will need to refer to the communication sent by Microsoft to establish their eligibility, compensation and other applicable conditions.
The programme also includes career planning assistance, while Microsoft says it will continue helping employees develop skills and explore internal opportunities where appropriate.
Will Microsoft's 23,000 employees in India be affected?
India is among the four countries included in the programme, but this does not mean that all employees based in the country are eligible.
Microsoft has approximately 23,000 employees in India, PTI reported. The company has not provided an immediate breakdown of how many of them qualify for the voluntary exit offer.
Eligibility will depend on the employee's job level and whether their organisation is participating. Consequently, the total number of eligible employees in India and the number who may eventually accept the offer remain unclear.
Microsoft has also reiterated its commitment to the Indian market. A company spokesperson told PTI that Microsoft had committed $20.5 billion in investments between 2025 and 2029 across cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations.
The spokesperson added that the company remained on track to equip 20 million people in India with AI skills by 2030.
The investment commitments indicate that the voluntary exit programme should not, by itself, be interpreted as a withdrawal from India. The offer is intended to give participating businesses flexibility in managing their workforce while supporting employees who choose to leave.
Is Trump's visa crackdown linked to Microsoft's buyout offer?
The announcement comes against the backdrop of scrutiny of US companies' employment of foreign workers. US Vice President JD Vance had announced that Microsoft and seven other companies would be barred from seeking green cards for skilled foreign workers amid an investigation into alleged visa fraud. However, the two developments are not linked.
Microsoft defended its hiring practices in a statement issued on October 8, saying the vast majority of its US employees were Americans. The company said that, of approximately 6,000 H-1B applications submitted in the previous fiscal year, 80% were intended to extend or change the status of existing employees.
H-1B visas allow US employers to hire eligible foreign workers in specialised occupations, while employment-based green cards provide a route to permanent residence. The visa controversy has therefore added another layer of scrutiny to Microsoft's US workforce practices.
The controversy coincided with US President Donald Trump's presentation of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who previously held an H-1B visa.
Notably, Microsoft eliminated approximately 4,800 roles in July as part of an annual realignment, primarily affecting its Commercial and Xbox organisations. The company also said it had redeployed more than 4,000 employees into new roles over the preceding year.
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