Microsoft buyouts: ‘Concerned workers’ write open letter to management, urge rethink of ‘speed-at-all-costs’ AI push
A group of current and former employees, who described themselves as ‘Concerned Microsoft Workers’, have written an open letter to Microsoft management, which recently rolled out a buyout for around 66,000 of its staff, amid an aggressive AI push.
In the letter, they have raised concerns over the company's aggressive artificial intelligence (AI) expansion, questioning its impact on workplace conditions, employment security, customer safety and the environment.
According to The New York Times, which first reported the development, the letter criticised what the employees described as Microsoft's 'speed-at-all-costs' approach to AI development and deployment. The letter also calls for employees to have a stronger voice in decisions concerning the adoption and implementation of AI technologies.
According to the NYT, the letter began doing the rounds before the October 26 buyout announcement. It asks Microsoft to involve employees in decisions about how AI is built and used, and to stop linking AI use to rewards or reprimands.
Also Read | Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, Google face federal antitrust lawsuit over calls to slowdown AI development
They also pointed to growing dissatisfaction within the organisation, citing increased workloads, frequent restructuring exercises and uncertainty over the future of jobs as Microsoft accelerates its investments in AI.
The letter also calls for employees to have a greater say in how AI is developed and deployed.
On October 26, Microsoft introduced a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees. According to Microsoft, the offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support.
The offer is available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States at level 70 and below.
Employees offered a buyout have until December 9 to decide, and those who accept will leave on December 31. They will receive a minimum of eight weeks of base pay, and the size of the payment varies by job level and tenure.
Microsoft laid off 10,000 workers in 2023, and more than 15,000 in 2025. This spring, about 8,600 US employees were offered a retirement-age buyout, and about 30 percent accepted it.
At its peak, Microsoft's employee count stood at 228,000 full-time employees, which it maintained across fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
Microsoft has conducted multiple waves of workforce reductions and restructuring as part of an ongoing shift toward AI, with the headcount as of the end of June standing at 223,000.
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Get Latest real-time updates
Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
✕
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.