Microsoft offered a voluntary early-retirement buyout program for longtime employees on Thursday as the technology company continues to prioritize investing in artificial intelligence.
The one-time retirement program, the first in the company’s 51-year history, will be available to U.S. employees at the level of senior director and below. The offer applies to workers whose years of employment and age total 70 years or more.
Eligible employees and their managers will be notified about specific details on May 7, after which they will have 30 days to decide whether to accept the offer. Those with sales incentive plans are ineligible.
The program was announced in an internal memo written by Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer.
“Many of these employees have spent years, and in some cases, decades, shaping Microsoft into what it is today,” Coleman wrote in a copy of the memo obtained by CNBC and other news outlets. “Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support.”
The buyout program is expected to take effect in Microsoft’s fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, which ends on June 30. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood is expected to discuss the plan on the company’s earnings call on April 29.
WHAT STATES ARE BUILDING THE MOST DATA CENTERS? TEXAS TAKES ON VIRGINIA
Microsoft is aggressively investing in AI infrastructure, spending billions of dollars developing massive data centers globally. The company committed $80 billion to building AI-enabled data centers last year and continues to drop billions more. The latest investment, announced on Thursday, is designed to boost Australia’s digital infrastructure.
Big Tech companies partnered with the Trump administration earlier this year to ensure customers don’t foot the bill for high electricity costs tied to energy-consuming data centers. The “ratepayer protection pledge” was signed by Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, Oracle, OpenAI, and xAI in March.