About 60,000 Microsoft employees have a choice to make: take a buyout and leave at the end of the year, or stay.
Eligible employees have until early December to decide. Offers reviewed by Business Insider vary by level, location, and length of service.
For US employees at levels 64 and below, the cash offer is one week of base pay for every six months of service; at levels 65 to 67, it is two weeks for every six months. The offers also include continued stock vesting and health insurance.
Buyouts are a reasonably common offering for corporations looking to cut costs, but deciding whether to take one can be difficult. Business Insider spoke to two HR experts to ask which factors employees should weigh and which questions they should ask before signing.
Read their top tips below:
Work out what the offer is really worth
“The number is important,” Marjo Miles, founder and principal consultant at The Ember Effect, told Business Insider. “But really, there’s more than that number.”
Employees should check what happens to their stock, paid time off, health coverage, and any bonus or commission due after they leave, Miles said. They should calculate how long the payout would cover household expenses after tax and deductions.
Deborah Saneman, CEO of workforce management and HR technology company Würk, told Business Insider that employees should price out replacement health insurance: how long coverage lasts, what they would pay monthly, and whether the company covers any of the premium.
She also recommended checking which shares would vest after their exit. “The headline number is only part of the picture, so get the details in writing,” she said.
Plan for a longer job search
“Whatever somebody thinks their job search is going to take, double it in your mind and plan for that,” Miles said.
She suggested using the time before the deadline to explore options. “Instead of deciding today, maybe start your job search today, she said.
Contacting people in their network and applying for roles could give employees a clearer sense of their prospects before they commit to leaving.
Saneman said employees should ask about career coaching, outplacement, or training. “A payout covers your bills, but help with the search itself can shorten the runway,” she said.
Consider what staying could look like
Turning down a buyout does not guarantee job security, Miles said, though she cautioned against assuming layoffs will follow. Companies could leave vacant roles unfilled or take other steps to meet a savings goal.
“There are a lot of different ways that organizations can strategically get to their goal without just immediately doing a reduction,” she said.
Saneman also cautioned against predicting what Microsoft or any other company might do next. “The benefit of a buyout is that it’s on your own terms and gives you time to plan your next steps,” she said. “A layoff may not.”
Miles suggested asking how departing colleagues’ work would be redistributed and what support would be available.
Saneman said employees should consider their longer-term plans: “The right choice is the one that fits where you want your career and your life to go, not just the one that looks best on paper.”
Questions to ask before taking a buyout
Business Insider asked Saneman and Miles to share what questions they’d advise employees considering buyouts to ask. Read their four key questions below:
Would I be eligible for rehiring?
“Microsoft is a large organization, and professional paths may cross again in the future,” Miles said. That may not make or break the decision, but it is worth knowing.
Will the payout be a lump sum or continued salary?
This can affect when the money arrives and how health insurance and other benefits are handled.
What happens to my bonus or commission?
Employees should check whether they will receive any payment due after their exit date and have the answer documented by HR.
What help will I get finding another job?
Saneman suggested asking about career coaching, interview preparation, and training to build new skills.
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