Microsoft offers retirement buyouts to thousands of staff

US tech giant Microsoft is offering voluntary retirement packages to employees in the United States, Canada, Britain, and India.

Microsoft announced the buyout offer on Monday. A Microsoft spokesperson said that Vice president level and below will be eligible and US media reports put the number at about 60,000, roughly 27 percent of Microsoft's global workforce. US media outlet Bloomberg says the new program is part of the company's efforts to trim costs and retool its workforce for the era of artificial intelligence.