Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees in four countries

Microsoft has proposed a new voluntary departure program for about 60,000 employees in the United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, the company told the AFP news agency.

The offer applies only to certain divisions of the technology company and is another way to adjust its workforce to the changing needs of the firm, according to a message sent to employees by Chief People Officer Amy Coleman.

The technology company had a global workforce of 223,000 people at the end of June. Six months before this new proposal, the company had already launched a first departure program aimed at about 8,750 U.S. employees.