$MSFT Microsoft is ramping up AI while beginning to reduce labor costs. According to reports, the company is offering voluntary separation packages to around 60,000 employees in the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom—nearly 27% of its 223,000 employees worldwide. Critical roles, such as those on data center teams, are excluded from the plan. It’s clear that Microsoft is redirecting more resources toward AI infrastructure: while employees in more routine roles face changes, investment in core computing capacity remains intact.