Microsoft Buyout Offer: Who Is Eligible And How Much Money Will Employees Get? Severance Pay And Eligibility Explained

Microsoft Buyouts:  Microsoft on Monday announced voluntary buyouts for approximately 60,000 employees across its teams in India, Canada, the UK, and the USA. As per the company, this voluntary exit is valid only for a limited time period. Those who accept the offer will get financial compensation and career planning resources under the terms and conditions of the buyout agreement.

However, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood expects "very few" employees will jump at the chance and accept the buyout offer owing to the company's growth opportunities. The move comes months after Microsoft laid off 4,800 workers in July 2026 as the company continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.

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Who Is Eligible For Buyout?

Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer, has outlined a separate memo explaining the buyout conditions to its employees. She wrote, "The Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) 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."

As per Microsoft's official statement, the offer stands for those employees who are at level 70 and below in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. However, not all employees are eligible for this offer. Some sales and certain engineering and corporate functions have been excluded. The latest buyout offer has no age or minimum tenure eligibility requirements, unlike Microsoft's earlier retirement programme.

How Much Severance Will Employees Get?

The buyout offer will depend on employees' location, salary, seniority, and years of service at Microsoft. The payouts are structured around an internal experience scale for employees from level 59 to 70. When the US layoffs took place earlier this year, the company's severance package included a minimum of 60 days of base pay. Employees remained on the payroll during this time.

Reportedly, US employees at level 64 who accept the buyout will get one week's base salary for every six months of service. For the same period, those at level 65 to 67 will receive two weeks' salary. Depending on their seniority and length of service, most of the workers could receive up to 39 weeks of base pay.

How Much Will Indian Employees Get?

For Indian employees accepting the VEO, the standard severance package reportedly includes one month of base salary for each year of service at Microsoft. Along with it, they may also be eligible for career transition services and health insurance. 

Deadline To Accept The Voluntary Exit Offer

Employees have until early December to act upon the offer. The departure process is expected by December-end. Expecting that only a few people will accept the offer, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said, "Our intent is to offer employees agency if they choose to leave the company on their own terms. We expect very few people to select this offer because of the growth opportunities here at Microsoft," as quoted by Business Insider. 

Why Is Microsoft Offering Buyouts Now?

The recent layoffs and buyout offers by Microsoft are a result of its heavy investment in AI. The buyouts are an alternative option to compulsory layoffs as the company intends to reduce its workforce owing to AI involvement. Coleman said in a blog post that the voluntary exit offer was an important part of how Microsoft is building more flexibility and giving employees more ways to shape their next chapter.

This is not the first time that the company has offered such a voluntary exit. Earlier in April 2026, Microsoft introduced a voluntary retirement program for approximately 8,750 US employees, meeting specific age and service requirements. According to Microsoft Chief People Officer Amy Coleman in July, more than 30% of eligible employees accepted the offer, helping reduce the scale of subsequent job cuts.

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