For the first time in its 51-year history, Microsoft is offering some employees the option to voluntarily leave with compensation. This was reported by CNBC citing sources.
The program affects approximately 7% of the U.S. workforce. Employees at the senior director level and below who have a combined age and tenure of 70 years or more are eligible for early retirement.
Eligible employees will receive details on May 7.
Last year, the company reduced expenses through several rounds of layoffs while simultaneously increasing investments in data centers.
“We hope this program will provide an opportunity to take the next step with generous support from the company,” wrote Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, in a memo.
Tech giants continue to cut staff amid the rise of artificial intelligence and automation.
Meta plans to lay off 10% of its workforce starting May 20, with additional optimization considered by year-end. The company encourages the use of AI agents for programming and other tasks, even if it slows down work in the short term.
Amazon has terminated contracts with 30,000 workers over the past few months. In February, Block cut nearly half of its staff.
Copilot Enhancements
Microsoft has rolled out Copilot features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for all users. The AI assistant can perform multi-step actions directly within documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
The company noted that the tasks introduced in September 2025 were limited due to insufficiently powerful models. The assistant could answer questions but struggled with agent tasks like making changes to documents.
Over the past year, neural networks have significantly improved in following instructions. In Word, the assistant now transforms drafts into polished text: it creates outlines, rewrites material, and selects the appropriate style and tone. In Excel, it can analyze data, generate analytical reports with explanations, and create formulas and visualizations. In PowerPoint, it can update layouts based on key points and data.
As a reminder, Microsoft is testing the integration of features similar to OpenClaw into its Microsoft 365 Copilot service.