As 2026 draws to a close, there is no better time than now to look back on the way the tech industry has changed over the last few months. In the tech job market, conditions have continued to be brutal, and total tech layoffs this year have now surpassed 135,000.
This comes as tech giant Microsoft is one of the most recent companies to restructure its organization (again), offering 60,000 staff buyouts to its employees before the end of the year, equating to roughly a quarter of its workforce. At this point, we have to ask ourselves: is this really the new normal?
60,000 Buyouts
It has been revealed that Microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to 60,000 of its employees globally, with teams in AI experiences, finance, and human resources reportedly impacted. It is also alleged that marketing, commercial business, and security teams will not be affected.
Employees were reportedly notified via a blog post, with the official notice explaining that this offer is available to “eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States at level 70 and below.”
It is understood that Microsoft has more than 220,000 workers globally, meaning that the potential cut could equal over a quarter of the company’s workforce. It is not yet clear how many employees Microsoft intends to lose.
This also comes after the company cut just under 5,000 jobs in July, insisting that artificial intelligence was not replacing staff but “changing how work gets done.” This time around, as its AI experiences teams are reportedly affected, Microsoft’s approach to the way it uses AI versus how AI impacts its hiring comes under scrutiny once again.
SF Ben has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
135,000 Layoffs
Although Microsoft’s final cuts – however large they end up being – will not count as layoffs but instead as voluntary redundancies, they still paint a bleak picture of the state of the market. This is a market that, at the time of writing, has experienced 135,466 layoffs since the start of 2026, surpassing 2025’s total and inching closer to 2024’s total of just under 153,000.
At SF Ben, we have extensively covered the impacts of these layoffs, the reasons behind them, and why some of the biggest companies in tech – Salesforce included – continue to reshape amidst changing industry demands.
As recently as this month, 10K’s 2026 Salesforce Ecosystem Report illustrated that this year had been the first defining year for how AI is impacting hiring, and this only becomes more apparent as time goes on.
It is likely that, going forward, we will see layoffs of this size and scale unfortunately continue, or come in the form that Microsoft is currently opting for. What tech companies do not want to risk is the pendulum swinging the other way; layoffs and division trimming cut costs and can signify steps toward growth, but continuous layoffs can also signal a company with a lack of direction.
Not only that, but voluntary redundancies put the focus and ‘blame’ on the employees rather than the organization – by choosing a redundancy, it can appear that the employees decided to go voluntarily, no matter how different it may actually be behind the scenes.
Final Thoughts
The tech industry’s turbulent shift shows no signs of slowing down as companies balance heavy AI investments against workforce costs. Whether through direct layoffs or voluntary buyout offers, the pressure on tech workers remains intense across every sector.
As 2027 approaches, organizations will need to carefully navigate these changes to maintain employee trust while staying competitive. How leaders manage this transition will define the future stability of the tech job market.
