Microsoft is starting a brutal downsizing

Microsoft is offering voluntary departure packages to up to 60,000 employees as part of cost-cutting measures while investing heavily in artificial intelligence. This initiative affects employees at the vice president level and below in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and India, including those from Xbox, Windows, and Copilot, but excluding sales, marketing, cybersecurity, and data center staff. The company plans to invest $175 billion this year, following previous layoffs of around 6,000 employees announced in May 2025.