In a historic move, Microsoft has announced its first voluntary layoff program in over five decades, allowing certain employees to opt for early retirement with financial compensation. This initiative, impacting around 7% of its U.S. workforce, targets employees at the senior director level and below who have a combined age and tenure of 70 years or more.
Details regarding the program will be shared with eligible employees on May 7. This decision follows a series of layoffs in the previous year as the company sought to streamline expenses while simultaneously boosting investments in data centers.
“We hope this program will provide an opportunity to take the next step with generous support from the company,” stated Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer.
The tech industry has been experiencing a wave of layoffs, influenced by advancements in artificial intelligence and automation. For instance, Meta is set to cut 10% of its workforce beginning May 20, while Amazon has recently laid off 30,000 employees. Additionally, Block reduced its staff by nearly half earlier this year.
