Microsoft offers buyout to 60,000 staff as tech job market cools
Microsoft is offering its largest voluntary buyout to about 60,000 employees, a quarter of its workforce, with departures by December 31.
Microsoft and Skydance announced big voluntary buyout programs this week. Microsoft's offer is the largest in company history.
The offer covers one in four staff, or about 60,000 people. Eligible employees have until early December to decide.
Departures will happen by December 31. Skydance offered some employees a one-time buyout.
This came three weeks after Paramount Skydance acquired Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion.
Buyouts help companies cut costs without mass layoffs. They can signal that layoffs may come next.
The labor market is described as low-hire, low-fire. Firms are careful about hiring.
But few people are being laid off outright.
- 60,000 people
- Employees offered buyout
- One quarter
- Share of Microsoft workforce
- 25.4 weeks
- Average unemployment duration
- 111 billion dollars
- Skydance acquisition price
Why it mattersVoluntary buyouts often come before forced layoffs. They signal where companies see weakness.
AustraliaAustralian tech workers in outsourced roles or subsidiary offices of large US firms may face similar pressures as global tech firms trim staff.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago
