Microsoft offers voluntary exit packages to 60,000 staff as AI spending surges

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 27 — Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, the company said on Monday, roughly a quarter of its workforce, as the tech giant seeks to cut costs while pouring money into artificial intelligence.

Staff on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and Britain at vice president level and below will be eligible, a Microsoft spokesperson said, while some groups of employees, including some working on data centres, sales and marketing, are excluded.

“The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter,” Amy Coleman, an executive vice president and chief people officer, told employees in a memo.

It’s the second voluntary buyout offer that Microsoft has offered employees this year.

In April, the company reportedly offered around seven per cent of its US workforce the option to retire early.

Around 30 per cent of those eligible took the voluntary retirement plan, according to CNBC.

Microsoft had 223,000 employees globally at the end of June, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings.

Around 27 per cent of Microsoft’s workforce is eligible for the new buyout offer.

The company is expected to report quarterly earnings later this week.

As major tech giants continue to spend heavily on AI-related investments, concerns persist about the impact of the technology on jobs.

Even industry insiders, such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, have warned of mass job losses.

Netflix will reportedly cut around 6 per cent of its workforce, or 1,000 jobs, US media reported last week.

Auction site eBay laid off 1,000 employees earlier this month, adding to a previous round earlier this year which impacted 800 jobs.

In May, Meta laid off around 10 per cent of its global workforce, impacting around 8,000 employees.

In April, Meta also said it would cancel plans to hire an additional 6,000 people and also shift 7,000 other employees into AI workflow-related roles.

Ride-hailing giant Uber said in September that it would lay off around 10 per cent of its staff, impacting an estimated 3,000 or more employees.

And e-commerce giant Amazon announced 16,000 global job cuts in January.

Microsoft previously cut nearly 5,000 jobs in July that heavily targeted its Xbox gaming division.

Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are collectively on track to pour roughly US$700 billion (RM2.86 trillion) into AI data centres, chips and computing infrastructure this year alone.

In July, Microsoft said it spent US$41 billion overall between April and June and expected to increase its spending to US$50 billion between July and September.

However, the company also adjusted its forecast for total spending in the 2026 calendar year to US$175 billion, down from US$190 billion previously.

Around two-thirds of its spending goes towards “short-lived assets,” specifically chips, due to customer demand for “both AI and non-AI infrastructure,” CFO Amy Hood said during a call with analysts. — AFP

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旧金山，10 月 27 日——微软周一表示，该公司将向约 6 万名员工提供自愿离职方案，约占其员工总数的四分之一。这家科技巨头希望在向人工智能领域投入巨资的同时，削减成本。

微软发言人表示，美国、加拿大、印度和英国特定团队中副总裁及以下级别的员工将有资格获得奖励，而包括一些数据中心、销售和市场营销部门在内的部分员工则被排除在外。

“自愿离职方案体现了我们应对变革方式的重要转变：创造更大的灵活性，并在可能的情况下，为员工提供更多塑造人生下一阶段的方式，”执行副总裁兼首席人力资源官艾米·科尔曼在给员工的备忘录中写道。

这是微软今年第二次向员工提供自愿离职补偿方案。

据报道，该公司在 4 月份向其约 7% 的美国员工提供了提前退休的选择。

据 CNBC 报道，约有 30% 的符合条件的人参加了自愿退休计划。

根据监管文件显示，截至 6 月底，微软在全球拥有 22.3 万名员工，低于 2025 年底的 22.8 万名员工。

微软约有 27% 的员工符合新的买断方案资格。

该公司预计将于本周晚些时候公布季度收益报告。

随着各大科技巨头继续在人工智能相关领域投入巨资，人们仍然担忧这项技术对就业的影响。

就连 Anthropic 首席执行官 Dario Amodei 等业内人士也警告称，将会出现大规模失业。

据美国媒体上周报道，Netflix 将裁员约 6%，即 1000 个工作岗位。

本月早些时候，拍卖网站 eBay 裁员 1000 人，此前该公司今年早些时候也曾裁员 800 人。

今年 5 月，Meta 裁掉了全球约 10% 的员工，影响了约 8000 名员工。

今年 4 月，Meta 还表示将取消增聘 6000 名员工的计划，并将其他 7000 名员工转移到与 AI 工作流程相关的岗位。

网约车巨头优步在9月份表示，将裁员约10%，预计将影响3000名或更多员工。

电子商务巨头亚马逊于1月份宣布在全球范围内裁员16000人。

微软此前在7月份裁员近5000人，其中大部分是其Xbox游戏部门的员工。

今年，亚马逊、微软、Alphabet 和 Meta 四家公司预计将共同向人工智能数据中心、芯片和计算基础设施投入约 7000 亿美元（2.86 万亿令吉）。

微软在7月份表示，其在4月至6月期间的总支出为410亿美元，并预计在7月至9月期间将支出增加到500亿美元。

不过，该公司还将 2026 年日历年的总支出预测从之前的 1900 亿美元下调至 1750 亿美元。

首席财务官艾米·胡德在与分析师的电话会议上表示，由于客户对“人工智能和非人工智能基础设施”的需求，该公司约三分之二的支出用于“短期资产”，特别是芯片。——法新社

槟城邮轮热潮为马来西亚北部带来了更多游客和商机。

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