Microsoft’s VEO: India employees face a tough stay-or-leave call

Bengaluru: When Microsoft rolled out its voluntary exit option (VEO), it surprised India-based employees who received the email, even if workforce changes were not entirely unexpected. For Gandhi, a software engineer at the company who chose to be identified this way, the immediate reaction was anxiety about what the future might hold.“It is quite scary, to be honest, because we don’t know where the future is heading and what will happen,” she told TOI.Gandhi said the option had been extended to eligible employees across participating organisations. But deciding whether to take the offer is not straightforward, particularly in a difficult job market. Employees have time to consider their options, and Gandhi said she was still trying to make sense of the situation.“Everything is so hazy right now. We can’t determine everything at this moment because they have given us time. So, we’ll think about it, get to know what is happening, and see how things unfold. It’s a very tight market,” she said.The prospect of switching jobs adds to the uncertainty. “Even switching jobs is a big thing. I have seen my friends trying to switch, but it’s very difficult,” she added.Microsoft is learnt to have offered the VEO to 60,000 employees across eligible organisations. Microsoft’s VEO covers AI Experiences, Copilot, Agents & Platform, CoreAI, Finance, Human Resources, the Office of the CTO, Strategy & Transformation, Windows + Devices, and Xbox. Cloud + AI, Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA), and Microsoft AI (MAI) are partially participating; employee eligibility varies, and leaders are expected to share further details by team. Marketing, Microsoft Commercial Business, Microsoft Discovery & Quantum, and Microsoft Security are not participating in the programme.Ironically, a day before Microsoft announced its voluntary exit option (VEO), co-founder Bill Gates was quoted in an interview published in The Observer on Sunday as saying: “The incentive structure is wrong. It’s ‘hire the robot, fire the human and don’t look back’.”The company has about 23,000 employees in India, though the number who received the offer in the country could not be independently ascertained.The programme is available to eligible employees in Canada, India, the UK and the US at level 70 and below. It is a time-limited, voluntary offer that allows employees to leave Microsoft with financial support and career-planning resources. Employees opting for the VEO must decide by Dec 1. The payout includes one month’s base salary for every completed year of service, health insurance and career-transition services.“There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute,” said Amy Coleman, executive vice-president and chief people officer at Microsoft, in a blog post on Tuesday.Level 70 corresponds to the vice-president or partner-level/senior director tier. When contacted by TOI, Microsoft said, “India continues to be an important place for Microsoft’s business and talent to grow. VEO is a voluntary, time-limited offer for eligible employees who are thinking about their next chapter. 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. Future workforce needs will continue to be based on business needs and priorities. VEO is one option within a flexible set of workforce approaches.”You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.