Industry

Microsoft offers buyouts to about 60,000 employees, and Xbox staff are among those eligible

By PPRGaming · October 27, 2026

The Microsoft logo, four colored squares beside the word Microsoft, on a white background
Image: Microsoft

Microsoft wants people to leave on their own. In a memo posted to the official Microsoft blog on Monday, chief people officer Amy Coleman announced a new Voluntary Exit Offer: eligible employees can quit with a severance package and career help. About 60,000 people are eligible, according to CNBC, which is roughly 27% of Microsoft’s 223,000 staff.

Xbox is in. Not every part of Microsoft is taking part, but sources told The Verge that Xbox teams are on the list, along with Windows + Devices, Copilot, CoreAI, finance and HR. Marketing, security and commercial sales teams are not.

How it works:

  • It’s open to employees at level 70 and below (up to general managers and some vice presidents) in the US, Canada, the UK and India.
  • Age, years of service and performance don’t matter.
  • The package matches Microsoft’s standard severance, including tenure-based pay, continued stock vesting and healthcare for a set period, per GeekWire.
  • Employees have until early December to decide, and those who accept leave on December 31.

Context. This is not a layoff, and Microsoft hasn’t said how many people it expects to take the deal. But it follows 4,800 job cuts in July that hit Xbox and sales hardest, and The Verge points to a Fortune report that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is planning more layoff rounds. Earlier this year, more than 30% of the staff offered Microsoft’s first voluntary retirement program took it.

PPR take: A buyout is kinder than a pink slip, but when a quarter of the company is invited to the door and Xbox is on the guest list, it’s hard not to read it as a sign of more cuts to come. We’ll be watching which Xbox studios lose people when the December deadline passes.

Sources