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What Microsoft is offering employees to retire voluntarily
07 May 2026

Microsoft is offering a voluntary retirement package to long-serving employees in the US.

The offer, which was revealed last month, is now available on the company's internal HR website.

Employees whose combined years of service and age total 70 or more are eligible for this program.

The retirement package includes access to Microsoft's healthcare coverage for five years, a cash severance payment, and six months of vesting for unvested stock options.

Retirement package includes cash severance payment
Package breakdown

The retirement package from Microsoft includes five years of medical, dental, vision, and well-being coverage.

The first year will be fully subsidized by the company. However, employees opting for this voluntary retirement option will have to pay a monthly premium for the remaining four years.

The cash severance payment varies based on employee levels with mid-senior level (level 64) employees getting a week's base pay for every six months of regular service up to 39 weeks maximum.

Roughly 8,750 people are eligible for this buyout offer
Vesting details

Along with cash severance, Microsoft is also offering six months of vesting for unvested stock options in this buyout offer.

This period extends to 12 months if an employee has had 24 or more years of continuous service.

About 7% of Microsoft's US employees, or roughly 8,750 people, are eligible for this buyout offer. It's the first time in the company's history that such a program has been introduced.

Microsoft will incur $900 million charge for this program
Financial impact

Microsoft has said that it will incur a one-time charge of $900 million in its current quarter for this voluntary retirement program.

The amount is roughly equivalent to a day's revenue for the company, GeekWire reported.

Employees will have 30 days to decide whether they want to accept the package or not.