Microsoft has announced a voluntary buyout scheme for US employees, confirmed via internal memo to The Register by company sources. Eligibility applies to employees at senior director level or below whose age plus years of employment at Microsoft adds up to 70 or more. Employees with sales incentive plans are excluded. Approximately 7 percent of the workforce is described as potentially eligible — roughly 9,000 employees, according to the report. Microsoft did not respond to The Register with a statement on the buyout scheme.
Experienced workers and quality commitments
The Register notes that voluntary buyout schemes tend to attract employees with enough tenure to qualify and sufficient options to leave elsewhere — typically experienced workers. Windows boss Pavan Davuluri had previously committed to “raise the bar on Windows 11 quality” in response to complaints about frequent out-of-band updates, according to the report, which notes Davuluri did not specify a target level.
The buyouts follow workforce reductions at Microsoft. The company cut 9,000 jobs in July 2025, according to the report. At that time, CEO Satya Nadella wrote that the terminations were “weighing heavily on me,” according to The Register.
AI spending and stock performance
AI is not mentioned in the internal memo, according to The Register, despite Microsoft having invested heavily in the technology. Nadella’s compensation for Microsoft’s fiscal 2025 grew to $96.5 million, largely tied to the company’s AI positioning, according to the report. The company’s stock price has fallen by more than 20 percent over the preceding six months, the report states.
The Register draws a comparison to NASA, which reportedly lost many experienced workers during buyouts and terminations in 2025, with consequences for mission continuity. The Register raises the question of whether Microsoft’s experience could follow a similar pattern if departing employees hold roles directly relevant to Windows quality — a question the memo does not address.