Key Takeaways

Microsoft is offering buyouts to 60,000 employees to cut costs.

The offer will provide benefits similar to standard severance packages.

Microsoft’s headcount has stayed flat since 2022, reaching around 223,000 employees this year.

Two weeks ago, Microsoft presented 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its workforce , with an enticing offer. They could choose to leave Microsoft of their own accord in exchange for a severance package.

“This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support,” chief people officer Amy Coleman said in a memo to workers in late October.

According to a new report from The New York Times , Microsoft employees flocked to an internal website within an hour of the buyout announcement to find out if they had received an offer.

So many workers were checking at once that employees speculated that traffic had overwhelmed the site.

A handful of Microsoft employees who spoke with…