Microsoft offered early retirement to 9,000 employees for the sake of AI investment - Media

Microsoft has launched an unprecedented program of voluntary layoffs in exchange for compensation, which may affect almost 9,000 employees in the U.S., Bloomberg found out. Meta Platforms is also planning many thousands of layoffs. The tech giants are cutting costs to free up cash to fund the costly AI technology race. Meanwhile, Nike continues to optimize its staff, trying to get out of the crisis after a series of erroneous business decisions.

According to a Bloomberg source familiar with Microsoft's plans, about 7% of Microsoft's U.S. employees will have the right to buy out contracts early (receive compensation payments). Previously, the company has never conducted a buyout of contracts of this scale, the source said. As of June 2025, the tech giant had 125,000 employees in the US. Thus, Microsoft could lay off about 8,750 people for extra pay, the article said.

The terms of dismissal were presented on April 23 by HR Director Amy Coleman in a memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Eligible offers will go to employees whose combined years of service reach 70, excluding some top managers and staff whose income depends on sales bonuses. "We hope this program will give those who are eligible the opportunity to take the next step on their own terms, with the generous support of the company," Coleman wrote in a statement.

Large technology companies, forced to spend tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure for artificial intelligence services, are looking for ways to cut costs. Optimizing headcount has become a standard approach to saving money. Microsoft has already made several rounds of layoffs since the beginning of 2023. Other leaders in AI investments - Oracle and Meta Platforms - have taken comparable steps to cut staff over the past year, Bloomberg points out.

On April 23, Meta launched another round of optimization - about 8,000 employees, or about 10% of the total workforce, will be cut. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg's company will call off 6,000 previously open but not yet filled positions. "We are doing this as part of our work to improve efficiency, as well as to offset other investments," the news agency quoted Ma's HR director Janelle Gale as saying to the staff.

On the same day, Nike, the largest sportswear maker, announced another 1,400 job cuts, Barron's reported. The company has faced a series of challenges in recent years due to a reliance on direct sales, a lack of innovation and increased competition, as well as weakening demand in key markets including China.

On April 24, Microsoft shares are growing by 0.7% in the U.S. over-the-counter trading, recovering from yesterday's collapse in quotations of American developers of corporate software. Meta and Nike are also trading in the green zone, adding 0.1% and 0.7%, respectively.

The consensus rating of Wall Street analysts on Microsoft and Meta Platforms calculated by FactSet indicates a Buy. The shares of the two technology giants have no recommendations to sell, and the average target prices suggest a potential upside of 38% for Microsoft (to $573.5) and 28.5% for Meta (to $847.1). Analysts' opinions on Nike securities are divided: 19 recommendations to buy (Buy or Overweight ratings) with 17 recommendations to hold previously acquired shares (Hold) and two to sell (Sell). Nevertheless, the consensus assumes dynamics better than the market (Overweight), and the average benchmark of $61.2 per share - growth of Nike quotations by almost 37% in the nearest year.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor