A move is spreading across U.S. big tech, including Microsoft and Google, to use voluntary departure programs instead of large-scale layoffs. The strategy aims to adjust headcount while giving employees a choice and reducing internal backlash.

Business Insider reported on Oct. 27 that Microsoft said it will run its second voluntary departure program this year. It applies to 60,000 employees, or about 27 percent of its total workforce of 223,000.

Employees in some teams in the United States and Canada, Britain and India are eligible. Applicants must decide whether to leave by early December. The terms match typical layoff compensation, and employees who accept will leave the company at year-end.

Microsoft in April also offered voluntary departures to about 8,750 long-serving employees in the United States. At the time, employees whose age plus years of service totaled 70 or more were eligible, and about 30 percent accepted the offer.

At Google, employees are continuing to demand that voluntary departures be introduced as the first step in workforce reductions. In July, about 100 employees held a rally in front of the headquarters in Mountain View, California, and submitted a job security petition signed by more than 4,500 people.

Emma Jackson (에마 잭슨), an Alphabet union executive who has worked at Google for more than 20 years, called voluntary departures "a more humane way" that gives employees a choice.

Experts also said the advantages of voluntary departures are growing at big tech companies with many long-serving employees. Laszlo Bock (라즐로 복), a former head of human resources at Google, said it places less of a burden on organisational morale than forced layoffs.

The approach has limits. Voluntary departures make it hard to predict how many people will apply, and companies may fall short of headcount reduction targets. There is also a risk that key talent a company wanted to keep could move to rivals.

Employees also need to weigh long-term financial effects, including pensions, stock compensation and health insurance, in addition to severance pay.

As big tech companies expand AI investment and cut costs, attention is on how much voluntary departures can replace traditional forced layoffs.