“Behind the scenes, the stories about these buyouts have attracted huge readership, more so than layoff stories. In this case I actually think there's a little bit of fantasizing, a little bit of aspirational readership. Like, wouldn't it be amazing if somebody gave me money to leave my job because I'm sick of this place and I'm ready to move on?”
GeekWire · October 2026
Context
After discussing Microsoft's buyout offer to tens of thousands of employees, Todd reflects on why readers engage with buyout coverage more than layoff coverage. It's an editor's read on reader psychology.
Transcript
…have attracted huge readership. People are highly interested in these stories, more so than layoff stories. And so you have just examining the psyche of the reader, because I think it's instructive. People want to know negative news sometimes. And so the job cut stories get a lot of attention.
If it bleeds, it leads.
In this case, I actually think there's a little bit of fantasizing, a little bit of aspirational readership. Like, wouldn't it be amazing if somebody gave me? Money to leave my job because I'm sick of this place and I'm ready to move on. And I think that drives a lot of interest and a lot of intrigue around this whole program.
Yeah, and they are somewhat unique, as you said, to the tech industry. I think people want more of the details. You read a layoff story and it's like, oh, they cut 10% of how many people are laid off and end of story. This has a little bit more nuance in terms of what type of program is being…
One important point, and it gets to this whole question of leaving with dignity on your own terms. Amy Coleman, the chief people officer, when I asked, was very clear. Performance is not part of this. At least that's what they're saying. They're saying that they're not just cutting low performers…
there are some divisions where this might not be an option at all.
More from GeekWire
