Microsoft employees call work ‘joyless’ in open letter as 60,000 get buyout offers

Microsoft’s employee buyouts are voluntary exit offers. Eligible workers can choose to leave and receive at least eight weeks of base pay, with more depending on their level and tenure. The offer covers participating teams in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Employees decide by December 9 and leave on December 31.

A layoff is different because the company ends selected jobs rather than asking employees to volunteer. Microsoft previously cut about 4,800 jobs in July and more than 15,000 in 2025. Those reductions were not described as voluntary buyouts. The buyout program is therefore a choice offered to qualifying workers, although employees may feel pressure from reorganisations or uncertain prospects.

Microsoft expects fewer than 5% of eligible employees to accept. The company’s chief people officer called the program a supported transition, while saying it was not linked to AI-driven changes in work. Still, the offer comes alongside repeated job cuts, heavy workloads and concern about future layoffs.

Microsoft offered buyouts to about 60,000 employees in participating teams across India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Sales and some engineering teams were excluded. The offer went to employees at level 70 and below, making eligibility narrower than the headline figure might suggest.

The 60,000 offers represent more than a quarter of Microsoft’s workforce. The company had 223,000 employees in June, so the offer was enormous even though not everyone could apply. Microsoft expects fewer than 5% of eligible employees to accept, meaning the eventual departures should be far below the number of offers.

The scale matters because this is Microsoft’s largest buyout program ever. It also follows early-retirement offers and layoffs in 2026, plus larger cuts in earlier years. The company reported record quarterly profit soon afterward, creating tension between its workforce reductions, major AI spending and employees’ concerns about small merit raises.

Current and former employees link worsening morale to the period when Microsoft sharply increased its AI investments. An open letter from “Concerned Microsoft Workers” says work has become joyless and demoralizing. It points to heavy workloads, constant reorganisations and the threat that AI could replace employees.

Workers also describe a practical problem: mandatory AI tools are being introduced with little training and limited explanation beyond demands for speed. Employees say they must learn new systems, correct poor output and sometimes roll back weak features. That can create extra work rather than immediate relief. The letter also asks Microsoft to stop tying AI use to rewards or reprimands.

The timing has intensified frustration. Microsoft reported $36.6 billion in quarterly profit and planned about $170 billion in capital spending this calendar year, while some employees received merit raises below 1%. Microsoft says the buyouts are not linked to AI, but it has not ruled out future layoffs.

If departing employees are not replaced, the work they handled does not automatically disappear. It may be redistributed among colleagues who stay. Several Microsoft employees told The New York Times they do not expect departing coworkers to be replaced, making this a central concern about the buyouts.

The added burden could include ordinary job duties, reorganised projects and the work needed to support new AI tools. Workers already report learning unfamiliar systems, checking poor AI output and rolling back weak features. If staffing falls while these tasks grow, employees may spend more time correcting technology instead of saving time with it.

The article does not state exactly how many roles will remain unfilled. Microsoft expects fewer than 5% of eligible employees to accept the offer, but future layoffs have not been ruled out. The immediate implication is uncertainty: remaining staff may face more responsibility, while morale could worsen if rewards and support do not keep pace.

Companies can reduce their workforce through several routes. A buyout is a voluntary exit package offered to eligible employees. Microsoft’s offer provides at least eight weeks of base pay, with the amount rising by level and tenure. Workers decide whether to accept before a deadline.

An early-retirement offer is also voluntary, but it focuses on eligible employees who meet retirement-related conditions, such as long service. Microsoft offered early retirement to about 8,600 long-serving US employees in April, and roughly 30% accepted. A layoff is different: the company selects jobs or employees for removal rather than waiting for volunteers.

These approaches can produce similar headcount reductions but distribute control differently. Buyouts and early retirement may give workers payments or transition support. Layoffs can be broader or more direct. Microsoft used all three methods in 2026: the current buyout, April’s early-retirement offer and July’s cuts of about 4,800 jobs.

The workers’ central demand is that Microsoft should not develop or deploy AI without worker input and protections. They want employees involved in decisions about how AI is built and used. They also ask Microsoft to stop linking AI use to rewards or reprimands, so workers are not pressured through performance systems.

Their demands extend beyond the workplace. The letter raises concerns about user safety, internal plans to get people hooked on AI products, secretive data-centre projects, and contracts with ICE and the Israeli military. The group also objects to what it calls circular investments among several AI companies. These concerns connect AI choices to communities, customers and public accountability.

The third demand is environmental. Workers want Microsoft to recommit to being carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. The group is open to full-time staff, subsidiary employees, vendors, interns and contractors, giving the campaign a broader base than Microsoft’s direct workforce alone.

Artificial intelligence is technology designed to perform tasks that usually require human judgment, such as analyzing information, generating content or responding to requests. In workplaces, AI can help people complete tasks faster. That is why Microsoft is urging employees to use AI tools across many parts of their jobs.

The productivity benefit is not automatic. Workers may need to learn unfamiliar tools, provide instructions, review results and correct mistakes. Microsoft employees describe a cycle in which they receive little training, clean up poor AI output and sometimes roll back weak features. Those activities are new human work created by introducing the technology.

The article shows this tension clearly. Microsoft is investing heavily in AI and tying its strategy to large data-centre spending, while employees report extra workloads and anxiety about replacement. AI may reduce some tasks, but its overall effect depends on training, tool quality, worker input and how leadership measures performance. Without those protections, promised speed can become added pressure.