Microsoft’s buyout offer to employees shows which tech jobs matter - Semafor

For a read into which jobs in tech are mission-critical, take a look at Microsoft’s buyout offer, extended this week to a quarter of its employees.

Excluded from the 60,000 workers eligible for severance are people who work in roles tied to data centers, cybersecurity, quantum computing, sales, and marketing, Bloomberg reported. Employees eligible for the buyouts include those in its Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and finance divisions.

Some of the cuts may reflect overstaffing: AI was already responsible for 30% of code at Microsoft as of a year and a half ago — and Meta, Google, and Amazon have also made big staffing cuts. But the teams companies choose to protect during layoffs can often help serve as a guide to the future, something investors will be asking about when Microsoft releases earnings Wednesday.