The leader of the UK’s biggest trade union has called for the same political focus to be given to NHS, education and care sector workers as there has been on those employed in North Sea oil and gas.
Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, said too often public sector workers were treated as an “afterthought” by the government compared with the “massive political focus” on protecting jobs in the North Sea.
Microsoft offered a buyout to 60,000 employees this week.
The offer spooked the tech industry and stoked chatter and concern inside the company.
The key question: How many employees Microsoft is prepared to lose?
Microsoft's huge employee buyout stunned the industry this week, raising urgent questions about why the software giant might want so many people to leave.
Inside the company, concerned staff debated the meaning of the move. Why might Microsoft want to shed 60,000 workers? Will roles be replaced by AI? Are more layoffs ahead?
Business Insider spent recent days speaking with Microsoft insiders to find out what's really happening. The people asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.
The main takeaway so far is that Microsoft seems to have unnecessarily spooked employees with the sheer size of its buyout offer, leaving leaders scrambling to calm the troops.
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood in an internal memo explained the offer was intended to "offer employees agency if they choose to leave the company on their own terms" and said the company expected "very few people" to accept.
Microsoft doubled down later and told Business Insider it anticipates 3,000 or fewer employees will take the buyout. That's only about 5%, or less, of those eligible.
Layoff concerns
Earlier this year, the company offered a retirement buyout to employees based on age and tenure. About one-third accepted.
Soon after, Microsoft did another round of layoffs. Some employees who didn't accept the retirement offer ended up losing their jobs.
That's led to speculation that more layoffs may come in the wake of this week's bigger buyout offer.
"Future workforce needs will continue to be based on business needs and priorities," Microsoft said in a statement.
Misconceptions and differences
Business Insider spoke to Microsoft executives who said there are misconceptions about the current buyout offer.
These executives could only speak about their own teams, and they were hesitant to definitively say layoffs aren't coming. However, they pointed out a few differences between the current buyouts and the retirement offer.
"Microsoft doesn't want to shrink by 60,000 people," one executive said, while asking not to be identified. "We are not replacing everyone with AI."
This person thinks Microsoft made latest buyout offer because some employees complained that they weren't eligible for the retirement buyout earlier this year.
And in the case of the retirement buyout, when employees left, Microsoft didn't fill those roles — the headcount went away.
This week's buyout works differently. In some cases, when staff leave this time their roles will be backfilled with new hires.
Why the latest buyout looks so big
One reason the latest buyout looks so huge: Some leaders decided it would be simpler to offer it to their entire organization, rather than try to pick which specific teams or individuals should be included.
"It's easier to opt-in giant organizations," one Microsoft executive told Business Insider.
Charles Lamanna, the executive in charge of the Copilot Platform, AI agents, Office and Word, decided to offer it to everyone in his organization, one of the people said. That includes many people in critical positions. The organization is prepared to backfill roles if any of those critical employees accept the buyout, this person said.
The Cloud + AI group took a different approach
Microsoft's key Cloud + AI division took a slightly different approach, according to another executive from the company.
Two teams — Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure and Cloud Operations + Innovation teams — decided not to offer the latest buyout to staff.
Most other groups within the Cloud + AI division did offer the buyout to employees. And this division can backfill some roles, this executive told Business Insider.
Cutting costs and avoiding layoffs
Backfilling roles could still help Microsoft cut labor costs. One executive at the company said if a senior person were to leave, they would likely backfill the role with someone more junior who would potentially be paid less. A Microsoft spokesperson said that's not an official company position.
If all this seems overly complex, compared to layoffs, there may be a reason: Microsoft has been under fire for cutting American staff while employing foreign workers.
"Never say never, but there's a lot of desire not to do big layoffs, especially as an American company," one of the Microsoft executives told Business Insider.
Talent and senior leaders surveyed think linear career paths will become less common.
jean-marc payet/Getty Images
A Korn Ferry report said "workers will zigzag more than they climb" the career ladder next year.
This fluid career lattice has its positives, such as skill expansion.
However, there are also benefits to the traditional linear path, such as raises and a clear goal.
Instead of going straight from junior to senior to manager to executive, you might find yourself bouncing between managerial gigs for different departments or taking a step back to focus on individual contributor work.
Organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry finds, based on a global survey of over 1,300 talent and senior leaders, that while traditional linear career ladders of moving up into higher-paying and more prestigious job titles within a particular specialized profession still exist, fluid career paths that end up looking like a lattice are becoming more important.
Career lattices may mean moving to a different team instead of being promoted, taking on a new role within the company to expand your skills, or moving down the career ladder. There can be all kinds of movements someone can take in the career lattice format.
Sixty-four percent of surveyed leaders said linear career paths will be less common, and 85% said progression will depend on skills and capabilities, rather than tenure or job title. Most said employees will be taking on greater ownership of their career development.
"In 2027, workers will zigzag more than they climb, landing in places no succession plan accounted for," the report said. "It will take a broader range of skills to rise through the ranks, so people will be searching for ways to learn them."
To learn whatever skills they need to before moving up, the report said people might be willing to move to a different team or position so they can develop their skill set. The report noted adaptability is the most sought-after skill among employers. AI fluency could be another attractive skill as the tech becomes more prevalent in the workplace.
A blog post from the workforce solutions provider Careerminds, by career and business coach Cynthia Orduña, listed examples of lateral moves. A sales representative could move to a customer success manager role because "strong relationship-building skills help improve customer retention and account growth." An IT support analyst could become a cybersecurity analyst because they can expand their technical knowledge.
Cathleen Beetel, senior client partnerat Korn Ferry, thinks both employers and employees should embrace lateral transitions because they allow employers to tap into existing talent they have vetted and know works well for their company.
A guide from job-search platform Indeed said career lattices encourage workers to try new opportunities, learn what they're best at, acquire new skills, and understand more about company operations. Indeed said another bonus of career lattices is that it gives workers more control over their careers.
"You have to not see a lateral move or a sideways move as stagnant," Beetel said. "It could potentially be the fastest route forward for an employee because they can gain those skills that are perhaps adjacent to what they have today that actually puts them in a better position for a promotion in the future."
Career ladders have their own benefits, beyond thinking about the likely pay increase that comes with a title bump. Indeed said that having a well-defined ladder can raise employee motivation, encourage deep expertise in a specific area, and be an incentive to work toward a clear goal.
The Careerminds blog post said workers might decline lateral moves if they think it isn't beneficial to them — such as not bringing a raise, concerns about what this means for career progression, and concerns about leaving their well-established team.
So there are trade-offs in employers offering lateral moves over a step up. It's the company's responsibility to communicate why someone is being offered this move and why it could be beneficial.
"Employees are more likely to accept a move when they understand why they were selected, what they'll gain, and how the opportunity supports their long-term career growth," Orduña wrote. "Instead of focusing on the business need alone, communicate the value that the lateral move in career creates for the employee."
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