Microsoft is continuing with its company-wide cost-cutting measures by announcing that it has offered several members of its workforce a “Voluntary Exit Offer”. Through this, the company wants to give employees “who may be considering a future outside the company” a choice to switch jobs while still getting some support.
The Voluntary Exit Offer is available to workers in Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States at level 70 or below, and is a time-limited program that guarantees financial support and career planning resources. The company has noted that the program is a reflection of “how we’re evolving our approach to change” by “creating greater flexibility” and “more ways for employees to shape their next chapter.” It has also been described as an evolution of the company’s previous “Voluntary Retirement Program”.
Looking to the future, Microsoft has noted that the program “is new for us”, and that it hopes to learn from the process. “At the same time, we’ll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.”
According to a report by CNBC, the offer is targeting “around 60,000 people”, which makes up roughly 27 percent of Microsoft’s entire workforce. It is worth noting that even Microsoft doesn’t expect every single person given the offer to accept it. Despite this, the number of employees that the company is providing this offer to is quite massive, and divisions across Microsoft, including Xbox, will be included.
Microsoft has been no stranger to layoffs in recent years, with the company cutting around 9,100 jobs just last year. More recently, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced a sweeping set of job cuts impacting roughly 1,600 roles. Along with this, she has confirmed that 1,600 more cuts are planned before the end of the fiscal year. As part of this, Xbox also announced that it was divesting itself of four of its studios – Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory. Arkane Lyon is also currently at risk of closure.
However, the Dishonored developer is still currently looking for a new buyer, and Microsoft recently confirmed that the studio has until December 13th to find one. “We have extended the consultation period by one additional month as we explore options, including finding a partner to support the studio through the development work still ahead. This is a defined extension, and we remain committed to keeping the Works Council informed throughout the process.”
The potential closure of Arkane Lyon puts roughly 217 workers at risk as the studio continues to work on Marvel’s Blade. Development on the project is seemingly going quite well, and the studio itself has expressed confidence in its potential success when it finally comes out.
In the meantime, Xbox has gone through another round of layoffs, this time affecting 268 of its workers and consolidating many of its gaming properties through mergers and project hand-offs.
