为了在AI时代调整员工队伍，进一步削减成本，微软将向约6万名员工提供自愿离职补偿方案。微软发言人表示，美国、加拿大、印度和英国部分团队中副总裁及以下级别的员工将符合条件。一些业务部门员工不在计划之列，包括一些从事数据中心、销售和营销工作的人员。
微软首席人力官Amy Coleman周一在给员工的通知中表示：“这项方案为那些可能正在考虑离开公司、寻求未来其他发展机会的员工提供了一个新选择，他们得以现在就在公司的支持下完成这一转变。”发言人称，选择自愿离职的员工将获得与标准遣散方案类似的福利。
这家全球最大的软件制造商近年来已通过多轮裁员削减数万名员工。今年7月，微软向达到退休年龄的员工提供自愿离职方案，约8，750名符合条件的员工中超过30%接受了这一方案。发言人表示，与这项自愿退休计划相比，微软预计接受最新自愿离职方案的员工比例将低得多。
截至6月底，微软员工总数为22.3万人。自2022年以来，这一数字基本持平。大约从那时起，微软开始大举投资AI和数据中心，挤压了公司其他部门的预算和招聘空间。
随着企业将支出转向AI基础设施，其他公司也在设法缩减员工规模。据报道，谷歌去年在多个部门推出自愿离职方案。Meta员工人数较2022年底的峰值减少逾2万人。
今年早些时候，Business Insider报道称，一名谷歌高管告诉其部门员工，如果不能“全力投入”AI，可以选择自愿离职补偿方案。
员工在决定是否接受自愿离职方案时，通常会考虑自己的储蓄情况，以及未来是否面临被裁员的风险。职业生涯中期的专业人士还会考虑就业市场状况、找到新工作可能需要的时间，以及补偿方案能否为职业转型提供足够的缓冲期。此类方案通常面向资历更深、成本更高的员工，微软此前的提前退休方案就是如此，而且补偿条件通常比裁员更优厚。
发言人表示，在某些情况下，如果优秀员工选择接受自愿离职方案，微软会尝试挽留。
Coleman在通知中写道，这项自愿离职方案为微软各业务部门“提供了另一种根据不断变化的需求调整员工队伍的方式”。
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To adjust the workforce and further reduce costs during the AI era, Microsoft will provide a voluntary separation compensation programme for some 60,000 staff. The Microsoft spokesperson indicated that the Vice-President and staff below the levels of the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom would be eligible. Some business sector staff are not part of the plan, including those working in data centres, sales and marketing.
In his Monday notice to employees, Microsoft Chief Manpower Officer Amy Coleman states: “This programme offers a new option for those employees who may be considering leaving the company in search of other future development opportunities, and who are able to complete this transformation now with company support.” He said that staff members who chose to leave voluntarily would receive freebies similar to the standard demobilization programme.
The world ' s largest software manufacturer has in recent years cut tens of thousands of employees through multiple retrenchments. In July of this year, Microsoft offered a voluntary separation programme to employees who reached retirement age, which was accepted by over 30 per cent of approximately 8,750 eligible staff. The speaker said that Microsoft expected a much lower proportion of its staff to accept the latest voluntary separation programme than it would do under the voluntary retirement scheme.
By the end of June, the total number of Microsoft employees was 223,000. Since 2022, the figure has remained almost the same. Since about that time, Microsoft has started to invest heavily in AI and data centres, squeezing budget and recruitment space for other corporate sectors.
Other companies are also seeking to reduce the size of their staff as businesses shift their expenditures to AI infrastructure. Google reportedly introduced a voluntary separation programme in several departments last year. The number of Meta employees fell by more than 20,000 compared to its peak at the end of 2022.
Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that a Google executive had told his department staff that, if they were unable to “fully commit” AI, they could choose a voluntary separation compensation scheme.
In deciding whether to accept a voluntary separation programme, employees usually consider their own savings and the risk of future layoffs. Professionals at the mid-career level also consider the situation of the job market, the time it may take to find a new job, and whether compensation programmes provide sufficient buffer periods for career transformation. Such programmes are usually targeted at more highly qualified and costed staff, as was the case with previous Microsoft early retirement programmes, and compensation is usually more favourable than lay-offs.
In some cases, Microsoft might try to retain an excellent staff member who chose to accept a voluntary separation programme.
In its notification, Coleman wrote that the voluntary separation programme provided Microsoft operations with “an alternative way to adjust the workforce to changing needs”.
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