Microsoft offers mass buyouts for roughly a quarter of its workforce

nisegami

Is there any reason not to take the buyout?

etchalon

Jesus. 25% is ... a lot.

rvz

Maybe Microsoft achieved AGI internally.

doctorzook

Obviously, details are thin. I’m very curious how these offers are distributed by role and by seniority.

jollyllama

Having no regard for the quality of the end user experience opens up a lot of business possibilities, LLM's or not.

ecshafer

60k workers, 1/4 of the workers. This is a big deal. It also really puts you into a bind if you receive the offer. Do you accept, take the money, and hope you can find a job (Now competing with many other Msft employees that are looking). Do you decline and hope you don't get hit with the layoff which hits if not enough people accept?

paxy

This was announced back in April. Lot better than doing layoffs imo. If someone is already checked out then giving them an incentive to leave works out for both sides.

2OEH8eoCRo0

They only had $281bn in revenue last year.

dude250711

Effectively that means that getting blocked from H1B is a non-issue for Microsoft, since they already have way too many workers.

_ache_

Any idea why? The "internal" memo: https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-offering-buyout...

r0m4n0

Paywalled so I can’t see the details but was it offered to 25% assuming much less would actually accept? I have to assume a minority take the deal

rayiner

How can Microsoft justify making thousands of H1B filings when obviously there's no shortage, and in fact there is a glut, of software engineers? https://www.levels.fyi/h1b/?q=Microsoft&employer=Microsoft

lelandbatey

Text of the memo driving this, from an article posted by Business Insider [0]: Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer Today, we're introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organizations. 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 orgs another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs. 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. This builds on what we learned earlier this year through the Voluntary Retirement Program. What employees should know This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, United Kingdom and United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources. Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based on each business's priorities, customer commitments, and workforce needs. Eligible employees will receive an email with a link to their Voluntary Exit Offer details within the next few hours. Looking ahead The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us. We'll learn from it. At the same time, we'll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills, and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we're trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute. My promise is to continue to provide clarity, listen and learn, and keep improving. Thank you for everything you continue to do for our customers, Microsoft, and for one another. Amy [0] - https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-offering-buyout...

usrme

https://wallhop.io/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mic...

angrydev

Anyone want to spill what their buyout offer was?

chris_money202

I do appreciate that they are at least giving people some agency into the decision first, rather than ruthlessly cutting people

sodacanner

Pretty big, but remember that offering a buyout to 1/4 of their employees doesn't mean they're looking to get rid of that many! Not everyone's going to take the buyout, and they're not expecting them to. Their target is likely much lower.

mjburgess

It seems one quarter are eligible. The target reduction is presumably much less.

jjallen

Wow. This is insane news. To think you suddenly can get by with up to 25% fewer people is truly a sign of what is to come. They probably assume much fewer will accept, but still. They probably think 10-20% will actually accept. But they're confident that they can make due with suddenly quite a bit fewer people.