Microsoft offers employee benefits to up to 7% of its US workforce

Microsoft is offering a voluntary buyout for the first time in its 51-year history, according to reports from Price CNBC and Bloomberg.

According to an internal memo, employees will be eligible if their years of service at Microsoft include 70 years or more, with some exceptions. So if a 52-year-old has 18 years of experience working at Microsoft, they may be eligible to buy.

The move gives Microsoft a chance to reduce its volume in a less expensive way than mass layoffs. Over the past few years, Microsoft has dealt with several layoffs, affecting thousands of employees – most recently, the company cut them. 9,000 jobs last summer.

The company had about 125,000 US employees as of June. The purchase would apply to 7% of the US workforce, which is approximately 8,750 workers.

TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft for comment.