The most interesting part of Microsoft's latest layoffs wasn't the layoffs themselves.
It was how the company chose to support people after making one of the hardest decisions any employer can make.
Over the past two years, the technology industry has entered a new reality.
Companies continue to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, build new data centers, reallocate budgets, and reshape their businesses. At the same time, large-scale layoffs have continued across the industry.
In the first half of 2026 alone, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Salesforce, and many other technology companies announced major restructuring initiatives. According to industry layoff trackers, well over 150,000 employees have already been affected by layoffs across the tech sector this year.
Against this backdrop, what caught our attention wasn't Microsoft's latest round of layoffs itself—it was the terms the company offered to employees.
What Microsoft is offering
According to publicly reported information, for most U.S.-based employees, the severance package reportedly includes:
- up to 39 weeks of base salary, depending on role and tenure;
- at least 60 days of payroll continuation before employment officially ends;
- continued equity vesting for eligible employees;
- extended healthcare coverage during the transition period.
It's important to recognize that none of this makes losing a job "pleasant."
People are still losing their jobs.
But this kind of approach significantly reduces uncertainty and gives people the time and financial stability to search for their next opportunity with confidence.
How does this compare to other Big Tech companies?
Looking at recent layoff programs across the industry, it's clear that companies are taking very different approaches to supporting employees.
Meta offered one of the strongest upfront severance packages—16 weeks of base pay, plus additional compensation based on tenure. The company also extended healthcare benefits during the transition period.
Salesforce follows a more flexible model, where severance depends on role, tenure, and other employee-specific factors, with packages reaching up to 30 weeks.
Oracle, on the other hand, reportedly offered a more limited severance package compared with several other Big Tech companies, prompting discussion across the HR community.
Against this backdrop, Microsoft currently appears to offer one of the strongest support packages among the latest waves of Big Tech layoffs, particularly when considering the combination of severance pay, continued equity vesting, and healthcare benefits.
Why does this matter?
In HR, we spend a great deal of time talking about:
- candidate experience;
- onboarding;
- employer branding.
Far less attention is paid to another stage of the employee lifecycle:
offboarding.
Yet it is often during layoffs that a company's culture faces one of its toughest tests.
People rarely remember the carefully crafted values on a company's careers page.
They do remember:
- how the layoff was communicated;
- how much time they were given to transition;
- what kind of support they received;
- whether they felt they were treated with respect.
Those same people later become candidates again, recommend—or choose not to recommend—the company to others, and ultimately shape its reputation in the market.
Offboarding is no longer just a cost
For years, severance packages were viewed simply as an unavoidable expense.
Today, they're increasingly seen as an investment in employer reputation.
Companies understand that the market is cyclical. A year or two from now, many of them will be hiring top talent again.
And when that happens, salary won't be the only factor that matters.
Candidates will also remember how the company treated people during difficult times.
Our perspective
We don't believe that a larger severance package makes a layoff "good."
Losing your job is always stressful.
But there is a significant difference between these two scenarios:
"Your access has been disabled today. Good luck."
and
"We're forced to make this difficult decision, but we'll provide financial support, time, and resources to help you navigate this transition."
It's in moments like these that the maturity of an HR function becomes most visible.
Perhaps the next competitive advantage in employer branding won't be how companies hire people—but how they part ways with them when difficult decisions become unavoidable.