GoKawiilFor the first time in its history, Microsoft is telling its US employees they might want to retire early. The tech giant is offering a one-time voluntary retirement program to about 7% of its US workforce whose age and years of service total 70 or higher. The move comes as Microsoft spent $37.5 billion on AI infrastructure in the quarter ending December and claims smaller teams can accomplish more with AI tools.
It’s a pattern spreading across tech. Meta just announced it’s cutting 10% of its workers — about 8,000 jobs — to offset AI investments. Amazon eliminated 30,000 jobs across two rounds of layoffs this year. Fintech company Block slashed a staggering 40% of its staff.
Tech companies are betting AI can replace human headcount while they pour billions into infrastructure. Microsoft shares fell nearly 4% the day employees learned about the program.