While having already cut back quite massively on its workforce over the last few years, it looks like Microsoft isn’t quite done yet. According to CNBC, the company is now offering some of the employees in its US offices a buyout in exchange for early retirement. The report notes that 7 percent of Microsoft’s US-based employees are eligible for the offer.
The retirement offer was announced with an internal memo earlier this week and will only be available to employees who are at the Senior Director level or below, whose age and years of employment at the company add up to 70 or higher. More details are slated to be revealed to eligible employees on May 7th.
The report comes after another one from earlier this week, which indicated that Microsoft might be looking to cut its workforce across its gaming division. According to an anonymous Activision Blizzard employee posting on Blind, the announcement is slated to happen either on May 6th or June 5th, indicated by their mention of “5/6”.
These reports come just months after former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer stepped down from his role and was succeeded by Asha Sharma.
Spencer’s retirement was followed by that of former Xbox president Sarah Bond, who said in statement that it was time for her to take her next steps in her personal and professional lives.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together over the past eight-plus years,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “PC and cloud gaming are growing faster than ever, our next console is well underway, and together we’ve helped lay the foundation for a more open gaming platform that spans devices and reaches players around the world.”
“When we announced our intention to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2022, I committed to helping lead Xbox through what would be a critical period of change. Over the past four years, we’ve navigated that moment together and positioned the business for what comes next. We took on some of the biggest challenges this organization has ever faced and did it as one team.”
“With that, I’ve decided this is the right time for me to take my next step, both personally and professionally. We’re living through a transformative technological era that will shape the next generation of our industry, and I’m energized by what’s ahead.”
Most recently, the new boss of the division, along with chief content officer Matt Booty, announced major rebranding of the Microsoft Gaming division back to Xbox.
“‘Microsoft Gaming’ describes our structure, but it does not describe our ambition. So, we are going back to where we started and changing our team’s name,” said the duo in a joint statement. “We are Xbox. We are a high agency culture where wild and wonderful ideas thrive. Our job is not to smooth over our differences, but to connect everyone into something greater than any one studio or product.”
This rebranding was then followed up by the company unveiling the brand new logo for Xbox, which calls back to the classic black and green color scheme used by the original console.