Microsoft AI Updates: November 1, 2026

1. Microsoft Offers Voluntary Severance to About 60,000 Employees While Excluding Data Center and Security Teams

Microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce, according to The Decoder, which cites Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer post and Bloomberg. The program covers employees at vice president level or below in the U.S., Canada, India, and the UK; Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and Finance are fully included, while data centers, sales, cybersecurity, and quantum computing, areas The Decoder describes as mostly important to Microsoft’s AI strategy, are excluded. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman called the packages “another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs” in a memo. It is Microsoft’s second such program in 2026, after buyouts offered to 8,750 U.S. employees in May and 4,800 job cuts in July, and headcount sits at about 223,000, roughly flat since 2022, while CFO Amy Hood says Microsoft plans to spend about $170 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, down slightly from its original $175 billion plan. Source