Paying staff to quit can help keep committed workers, study finds as Microsoft and BMW offer exits

Offering employees money to leave may sound like a strange way to keep good people, but new academic research suggests it can do exactly that. The finding has drawn attention this week as two global giants, Microsoft and BMW, are running large voluntary exit programmes, with Microsoft’s offer extending to eligible staff in India.

The study, reported by HR publications People Matters and HRD Canada, was published in the Journal of Management Accounting Research. Its authors are Leslie Berger and Lan Guo of Wilfrid Laurier University, Kelsey Matthews of the University of Waterloo and Bradley Ruffle of McMaster University, all in Canada.

What the research found

The researchers ran experiments that measured how strongly participants identified with their organisation, and then tested how they responded to an offer of payment for leaving. Those with weak attachment tended to take the money and go, while strongly attached participants generally stayed whatever the amount. The offer made the biggest difference among those in the middle, HRD Canada reported.

The more striking result concerned those who declined. People who turned down the payment went on to work harder than they had before. The authors concluded that such incentives “both help retain highly identified employees and motivate those who remain,” according to HRD Canada. Neither report gave the study’s sample size or the payment amounts used.

A separate 2026 paper in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, led by Chiara Natalie Focacci, found in an online experiment with 1,000 participants that those who rejected a small payment to quit completed 33% more tasks than a control group. Its authors cautioned that they could not fully separate existing motivation from the effect of the choice, so the link is not proof of cause.

The idea is not new. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos described a “Please Don’t Take This Offer” scheme in his 2014 shareholder letter, under which warehouse staff were offered $2,000 to quit, rising each year to $5,000, an approach he credited to Zappos.

Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer

Microsoft announced its Voluntary Exit Offer on Monday, 26 October, for employees at level 70 and below in participating teams in India, the US, the UK and Canada, according to a PTI report carried by the Free Press Journal. About 60,000 employees worldwide are eligible. The company has roughly 23,000 employees in India, but it is not clear how many of them qualify.

Eligible staff in India reportedly have until 1 December to decide. The package is understood to mirror standard severance, with one month’s base salary for each completed year of service plus health insurance and career transition support, though full terms are sent individually by email. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman described the offer as time-limited and new for the company, and said participation would depend on business priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.

BMW’s severance offers

In Germany, BMW is aiming to cut about 8,000 white-collar positions by the end of 2027 and has emailed personalised severance offers to tens of thousands of employees, autoevolution and CarScoops reported, citing the German business daily Handelsblatt. Some individual packages reportedly exceed €650,000, with amounts based on age, length of service and salary. A “Turbo Bonus” is on offer for those who leave by 31 March 2027. BMW declined to comment on specific figures.

Interest was high. About 40,000 employees tried to view their offers on BMW’s internal HR portal, which crashed within hours, People Matters reported. BMW has not said how many have accepted.

What it means for Indian employees

For Microsoft staff in India who receive an offer, the key dates and terms are the 1 December deadline and the service-linked payout, and the choice is voluntary. The research suggests employers see such schemes as a way to let less engaged staff leave on good terms while those who stay recommit. The studies were controlled experiments rather than workplace trials, and HRD Canada suggested companies test the idea through pilots first.

Sources

• People Matters: As Microsoft and BMW offer voluntary exits, study finds paying employees to quit could improve retention
• HRD Canada: Pay-to-quit incentives boost effort of staff who stay: study
• Free Press Journal (PTI): Microsoft announces voluntary exit offer for 60,000 eligible employees globally; India staff get December 1 deadline
• autoevolution: BMW is paying insane money to get 8,000 employees gone by the end of 2027
• CarScoops: BMW ‘Turbo Bonus’ offers employees up to $730,000 to quit