Microsoft Issues First-Ever Employee Buyout—Here’s How Much Employees Might Receive

BreakingBusinessMicrosoft Issues First-Ever Employee Buyout—Here’s How Much Employees Might ReceiveByTy Roush,Forbes Staff. Ty Roush is a breaking news reporter based in New York City.Follow AuthorApr 23, 2026, 02:31pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineMicrosoft on Thursday began offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of employees in the software giant’s first-ever employee buyout program, and workers will likely receive tens of thousands of dollars as part of their severance package. The software megacap has ramped up spending on AI in recent years to compete with its peers. Getty ImagesKey FactsMicrosoft offered buyouts to about 7% of its U.S. workforce on Thursday, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC and Bloomberg.Microsoft employed roughly 228,000 people as of June 2025, and of those, 125,000 were in the U.S., according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing (7% of the U.S. workforce would equal roughly 8,750 employees).Those eligible for the buyouts include workers at the senior director level and below and employees whose years of employment at Microsoft and age add up to 70 or more.Shares of Microsoft dropped by more than 4% as of Thursday afternoon, headlining broader losses across software stocks.Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; script.setAttribute('defer', '1'); script.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); iframeDoc.body.appendChild(script); }; document.head.appendChild(iframe); const preloadResourcesEndpoint = 'https://cds.elements.video/a/preload-reso...