Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers as it looks to trim costs

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Set us as preferred Microsoft is offering buyouts to 60,000 employees — roughly a quarter of its global workforce — as the company looks to slash costs while investing heavily in artificial intelligence.The tech giant based in Redmond, Wash., has offices throughout the world, including in California.

It also owns social network LinkedIn, developer platform Github and gaming studios such as Xbox and Activision Blizzard.It’s unclear how many California Microsoft employees are eligible for the buyouts.The move comes as other major tech companies including Meta, Amazon, Oracle and more lay off workers and ramp up investments in data centers and infrastructure to support AI-powered products.

In July, Microsoft announced it was laying off 4,800 employees.While the company acknowledged that AI is automating tasks, it said the roles being eliminated weren’t being replaced by AI.

For the first time, the company also introduced a voluntary retirement program for certain workers.“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 organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs,” Amy Coleman, executive vice president and chief people officer, said in a memo.

Employees in certain teams in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada and India will be eligible for the buyout, according to the memo, which was made public Monday.Business Tech giants such as Meta and Coinbase continue to lay off employees, citing the way AI is reshaping how people work.

Tech workers are navigating a crossroads in their careers and a brutal job market.The memo doesn’t say how many employees are eligible, but multiple news outlets, some citing a spokesperson and others a person familiar with the matter, repo...