At 50, a senior Microsoft employee based in Washington state had mapped out the next five years of a career spanning nearly three decades. Recruited in India, the employee moved there in September 2000 and eventually became a Level 69 (partner-level employee) working on Copilot and artificial intelligence.The plan was to work until 55. The employee, who did not wish to be identified, told The Indian Express that the hope was to qualify for a stock-vesting arrangement they understood to be available to longtime employees who reached that age after at least 15 years of continuous service.The company’s Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) makes approximately 60,000 employees globally eligible to consider leaving with financial support. In India, where Microsoft employs around 23,000 people, the company has declined to disclose how many employees qualify. The offer comes as the technology giant expands its investment in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure, raising questions about how its workforce may change and what the decision means for employees at different stages of their careers. The company’s Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) makes approximately 60,000 employees globally eligible to consider leaving with financial support. (AI generated image)In India, eligible employees have until December 1 to decide. The package is broadly similar to Microsoft’s standard severance arrangements, including one month of base salary for every completed year of service, health insurance and career-transition services.‘Microsoft continues to invest in India’In a statement to The Indian Express on Wednesday, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company remained committed to expanding its presence in India.“Microsoft continues to invest in India’s talent and technology ecosystem and is backing the country’s AI ambitions with US$20.5 billion in committed investment between 2025 and 2029 across cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations. We are also on track to fulfil our commitment of equipping 20 million people across India with AI skills by 2030,” the spokesperson said.Official sources at the company said India remained an important place for its business and talent to grow, describing the VEO as a voluntary, time-limited option for employees considering their next chapter.Story continues below this ad“For most eligible employees, now won’t be the right time to consider what’s next outside of Microsoft, but we are giving them that option,” sources said, adding that future workforce needs would continue to be determined by business priorities and that the offer was one of several approaches available to manage its workforce.“I was not planning to retire right now. I was planning to work for at least a few more years,” the US-based employee said.ALSO READ | Microsoft offers voluntary exit to 60,000 employees: What it means for India staffNow, the choice is between accepting a known financial package and staying in a job whose future feels less certain.“I don’t think it’s easy to get jobs outside… I think there are just way too many applicants for every role; it would at least take six months for me to find a decent role,” the employee said, adding that one reason to consider the offer is to avoid the anxiety of remaining at Microsoft without knowing what might happen next. Leaving, however, would mean giving up a job they enjoy and the prospect of future stock.Story continues below this adThe engineer said the company had undergone changes in workplace expectations and organisational structures that had contributed to a sense of instability. “It’s not something you expected,” the employee said. “In tech… Microsoft’s not been known as a company where things are unstable.”For this senior employee, the terms of the VEO include a severance payment based on level and length of service, six months of stock vesting after separation, six months of health coverage and several months of career-transition support.“Employees have until December 9 to decide, with their last working day set for December 31. The payout would be made as a lump sum in January 2027, with a seven-day window to reconsider the decision. Those who accept would be ineligible to rejoin Microsoft for two years,” the employee said.The decision also extends beyond an employee’s own career to their family’s financial security and healthcare. Replacing employer-provided health insurance in the United States could be expensive.Story continues below this ad“For a family of four, that’s $4,000 a month per month that you’re spending on healthcare,” the employee said, adding that the loss of employer-provided insurance could be particularly difficult for households.A different outlookIn Hyderabad, a 23-year-old Microsoft software engineer has arrived at a very different decision.The Azure engineer, at Level 60, has worked at the company for nearly three years and estimates that accepting the offer could bring around Rs 11 lakh, based on their understanding of the payout. But satisfied with the current role and team, the employee sees little reason to leave.“I am happy with continuing working and I am in a peaceful team,” the engineer said. “So I don’t see any point in taking the offer.”Story continues below this ad“Each and every person in my team got the offer,” the engineer said, describing those happy with their jobs, those who wanted to leave because they were unhappy with their teams or work, and those who already had another offer lined up.“For the last group, the package could make a planned departure more attractive.”“Some people are really worried about this, as they are interpreting it as a forceful resignation, which is not the case,” the engineer said.The employee’s estimate of a six-month payout is a personal calculation. Microsoft has said that in India, the package is broadly similar to its standard severance arrangements: one month of base salary for every completed year of service, along with health insurance and career-transition support. Individual offer letters are needed to establish the precise benefits and terms.Story continues below this adDespite expecting to stay, the engineer expressed concern about the wider hiring environment. “We can see that hiring across the board has reduced. And I expect the same to continue within this tight job market.”AI impact, H-1B fearsThe responses of employees at different levels of seniority also reflect how artificial intelligence is changing expectations of work, even though the company has not explicitly attributed the VEO to AI-driven job replacement.The senior employee in Washington, who works on AI-related products and evaluation, said the tools had accelerated everyday tasks and raised expectations about what employees could accomplish.ALSO READ | AI isn’t killing entry-level jobs, it’s breaking the ladder to senior roles: IIT Madras study“It’s like having an intern available to me; product managers could increasingly write code, engineers could build user-interface prototypes, and designers could produce working prototypes. Everybody has upskilled as a result of what the models can do,” the employee said, adding that these tools could allow teams to accomplish more with fewer people, even as Microsoft spends heavily on the computing infrastructure required to run AI systems.Story continues below this ad The senior employee in Washington, who works on AI-related products and evaluation, said the tools had accelerated everyday tasks and raised expectations about what employees could accomplish.For Indian professionals working in the United States on H-1B visas, the decision can carry another layer of risk. “Colleagues in my office who are particularly under the H1B are under a timeline to find a job; else they have to relocate and sell all their assets and move out of the country,” the senior employee said.In October, the Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe and several major IT outsourcing companies from the PERM labour-certification programme, which employers use to sponsor foreign workers for employment-based green cards.The move does not bar the companies from employing H-1B workers, but could complicate the route to permanent residency for affected employees.Speaking to The Indian Express, Asel Williams, an immigration attorney based in New York, said that layoffs and employers’ growing reluctance to sponsor foreign workers were adding to the uncertainty facing Indian professionals in the US. “Fewer companies are right now willing to sponsor Indian nationals, terminations are rising, and I am receiving a growing number of inquiries from laid-off H-1B holders with only 60 days to secure new employment,” she said.