Microsoft shields AI teams in 2026 layoffs
microsoft offers severance to 60,000 employees, excluding ai-critical teams, as it plans $170b ai spend.
microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce. the program covers employees in the u.s., canada, india, and the uk at vice president level or below, including those in xbox, windows, copilot, and finance. however, teams critical to its ai strategy, such as data centers, sales, cybersecurity, and quantum computing, are excluded. microsoft's workforce remains about 223,000, despite strong revenue growth. the company plans to spend $170 billion on ai infrastructure in 2026, down slightly from its original $175 billion plan.