Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Microsoft will offer employees in India a standard severance package, including one month of base salary for each completed year of service, health insurance, and career transition services, as part of its voluntary retirement programme, the company said.
Microsoft India employees opting for the voluntary retirement scheme must decide by December 1, the company said, according to media reports.
While the firm did not share details of the number of employees impacted in India, a spokesperson said Microsoft continues to “invest in India’s talent and technology ecosystem and is backing the country’s AI ambitions with USD 20.5 billion in committed investment between 2025 and 2029 across cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations.”
“We are also on track to fulfil our commitment of equipping 20 million people across India with AI skills by 2030,” the spokesperson said.
On Monday, the company offered a voluntary exit scheme to nearly 60,000 employees globally, or roughly 25 per cent of its 223,000-strong workforce.
“This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below,” said Amy Coleman, Executive Vice-President and Chief People Officer at Microsoft.
The decision to offer the voluntary retirement programme to roughly one-fourth of its workforce comes as companies worldwide look to improve efficiency and shore up revenues with artificial intelligence, leading to layoffs or retirement programmes such as the one Microsoft is offering.
In a blog post, Coleman said the voluntary exit offer was an important part of how Microsoft was “creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter.”
The voluntary exit programme comes even as Microsoft continues to hire.
In a LinkedIn post on Saturday, Coleman said the company welcomed 1,600 new employees between October 19 and 23.
“There’s a lot of conversation about what AI will mean for jobs. Some companies see AI as a reason to hire fewer people early in their careers. At Microsoft, we see it differently. Every leader we’ll need in ten years is starting their career somewhere today. We want them starting here,” Coleman said in the post.