Xbox Staff Eligible for Buyouts as Microsoft Shakeup Widens

Microsoft is offering buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees under a new program called the Voluntary Exit Offer. Bloomberg reports that group is more than a quarter of the company's workforce. Xbox is one of the divisions whose staff can take the deal, along with Windows, Copilot, and finance. Teams working on data centers, sales, marketing, cybersecurity, and quantum computing are excluded.

Microsoft frames the offer as a option for people who were already thinking about leaving and can now do so with a pay package. The terms have not been published, but a spokesperson told Bloomberg that those who accept will receive benefits similar to a severance package. The announcement came just two days before the company's earnings report on October 28.

The buyouts follow a Voluntary Retirement Program in April, which about a third of eligible workers accepted, and mass layoffs in July that affected nearly 5,000 people, including major cuts at Xbox. Further Xbox reductions have been reported, though The Verge's Tom Warren says the next round is not expected this month. Xbox has been going through a "reset" under CEO Asha Sharma that has included layoffs, studio closures, and canceled games.

The cuts are landing during a strong stretch for the business. Microsoft reported $90 billion in revenue for its latest period, up 18 percent, and a profit of $35.8 billion, up 22 percent. Satya Nadella addressed the apparent contradiction in an internal memo, calling it "the enigma of success."