Microsoft Employee's 'Heart Sank' After Spotting Voluntary Exit Offer: "Don't Know How To Process This"

A Microsoft employee was left worried after spotting a voluntary exit offer on the company's rewards portal, initially fearing that the notification had been sent specifically to her. Her reaction, shared in a viral Instagram reel, comes amid growing uncertainty over Microsoft's latest voluntary separation programme. The software developer and Instagram influencer, who goes by Miss Gandhi and has more than 70,000 followers, shared how she reacted after coming across the offer while checking her employee account.

Gandhi said she was initially unconcerned when she first read Microsoft's communication about its Voluntary Opportunity Exit (VOE) programme. However, her anxiety grew after she noticed discussions about the offer among colleagues and decided to check her own account.

"I opened the rewards portal and the first thing that popped on my screen was, 'It's your offer... review, you have 25 days. My heart sank at that very moment. I'm like, it's literally an offer. What is this? What am I going to do now?" she said. 

She later checked internal employee groups and discovered that colleagues across different teams had received similar notifications. This helped her realise that the offer was part of a broader programme rather than an individual decision about her employment. 

"Then we got to know everyone has got it and it became normalised," she added.

The incident comes as Microsoft rolls out its voluntary exit programme to eligible employees across several countries, including the US, India, the UK and Canada. Reports suggest that around 60,000 employees could be eligible for the offer, with those receiving it given 25 days to decide whether to accept. Microsoft announced the programme on October 26, with employees at the vice president level and below eligible for voluntary exit offers. The initiative marks the company's second voluntary buyout programme this year.

In April, Microsoft reportedly offered an early retirement option to around 7% of its US workforce. According to CNBC, approximately 30% of eligible employees opted for the programme.

The latest offer comes as technology companies reassess their workforces while increasing investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, including data centres, advanced chips and cloud computing capacity.

Microsoft had 223,000 employees globally at the end of June, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings. Reports indicate that around 27% of its workforce could be eligible for the latest voluntary exit programme.