Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts as AI leads to efficiency push

Microsoft is offering voluntary exit packages to U.S., Canada, India and U.K. employees at experience level 70 or below, with about 60,000 people eligible, roughly 27% of its 223,000-person workforce. The move comes as Microsoft ramps up data center spending for AI computing demand, with September-quarter capital expenditures expected to exceed $50 billion, up from $34.9 billion a year earlier. Employees must decide in early December and those participating will leave on Dec. 31.