Microsoft’s Massive Employee Buyout Shows How AI Is Reshaping the Economy

Following billions in AI investments last fiscal year, Microsoft announced Monday that it is offering buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees, about a quarter of its workforce, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

The voluntary exit offer applies to staff at experience level 70 or below across the US, Canada, India and the UK. According to Microsoft, the move is tailored to give “eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support.”

Microsoft didn’t say how many employee buyouts it will accept, though it’s likely fewer than those offered the deal. The company didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

AI Infrastructure Buildout

The move comes a few months after Microsoft reported it invested about $116 billion in property and equipment - largely for cloud and AI data-center capacity - in the 2026 fiscal year, about $50 billion more compared with the 2025 fiscal year.

Microsoft’s operating income increased by about $30 billion between the 2026 and 2025 fiscal years.

In September, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft is planning on tripling its computing power in the coming years, which could result in the company using more energy than all of New York City at peak hours.

Teams Affected

The buyout affects teams including:

• Xbox
• Windows
• Copilot
• finance

but excludes certain data-center, sales and marketing staff, according to Bloomberg. Xbox already cut 1,600 employees in July in one round of layoffs, and another round is expected before June 2027.

Prioritizing Automation Over Hiring

The voluntary exit offers show that Microsoft is prioritizing infrastructure buildout, automation and capital efficiency over hiring.

Employment in AI-exposed roles such as software development and customer experience has fallen by more than 4% this year, while roles that rely on AI automation are showing slower job growth, according to Stanford HAI’s Digital Economy Lab.

Though AI might not yet be eliminating jobs at scale, companies are spending billions on compute while becoming far more selective about adding personnel.