Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, but has not publicly confirmed whether Xbox or its studios are taking part. That figure describes staff eligible for the offer, not 60,000 announced job cuts.
The company announced its Voluntary Exit Offer on October 26, limiting it to participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Employees must be at internal level 70 or below, and working in one of those countries does not automatically make someone eligible.
“Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not,” chief people officer Amy Coleman wrote. “Participation varies based on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.”
A Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider that around 60,000 workers would qualify, roughly a quarter of the workforce. The outlet reports that sales organizations, some engineering teams and some corporate functions are excluded.
Eligible employees have until early December to decide, with departures scheduled for the end of the year. Microsoft says the package includes financial support and career-planning resources; its spokesperson told Business Insider that the terms would resemble the company's standard severance offer. The spokesperson also said there were no plans for another buyout at this time.
This is broader than Microsoft's earlier Voluntary Retirement Program, which Business Insider reports was offered to about 9,000 US employees based on age and tenure. Around a third accepted that earlier offer, according to a person familiar with the turnout cited by the outlet. The new program's eventual take-up is not yet known.
For Xbox, the announcement does not establish another round of studio cuts. Its existing restructuring is still unfolding: Microsoft has extended Arkane Lyon's consultation period into December while seeking a partner for the Marvel's Blade developer. That is a separate process in France, outside the four countries covered by the new exit offer.