Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer at Microsoft

Microsoft has launched a time-limited voluntary exit programme covering eligible employees in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, with roughly 60,000 staff worldwide able to apply, according to a blog post published by the company on Monday.

The offer is open to employees at level 70 and below in participating teams. Microsoft employs about 23,000 people in India, though the company has not said how many of them qualify. Qualifying staff in India have until 1 December to make up their minds. Each candidate will receive an email detailing the terms of their offer. 

Details of the offer have not been confirmed by the company, but it is understood to work much like a typical severance payment. Staff would receive a month of base pay for every year of completed service, together with health insurance and career transition assistance. 

Microsoft’s chief people officer, Amy Coleman, said the programme allows employees who are thinking about a future elsewhere to depart with backing from the company, and offers participating teams a further option for reshaping their workforces. She said Microsoft would go on backing employees as they build new skills, and would weigh up vacancies inside the company where there is a good match. 

The company made clear that uptake will vary from one part of the business to another, with each unit’s priorities, customer obligations and workforce requirements shaping its level of participation. Coleman said this was the first time Microsoft had run such a programme, and added: “We’ll learn from it.” 

Microsoft said through a spokesperson that it stays committed to India, and cited $20.5 billion earmarked for cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations between 2025 and 2029. The company also said it is aiming to give 20 million people in India AI skills by 2030, and expects to get there. 

The announcement comes after a string of workforce changes at technology companies in India. Oracle is reported to be preparing job cuts affecting up to 2,500 staff in the country, and performance improvement plans at Microsoft have drawn attention in recent weeks.