Finance influencer Sharan Hegde has warned that Microsoft's voluntary exit offer could hurt Bengaluru's property market, saying young tech professionals who took big home loans may be exposed if IT jobs shrink.
In a post on X on Wednesday that has drawn more than 1.6 lakh views, Hegde wrote that "American tech companies have made billions by employing cheap labour in India."
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He added, "But now that AI is entering the picture, it feels like we're being left behind." He said property prices "have shot up on the back of high-paying IT jobs".
He claimed that in 2022 only 11% of homes sold in Bengaluru cost over Rs 1.5 crore, against 62% today.
"A lot of young professionals have taken on massive home loans assuming their salaries will keep growing," he wrote. Hegde concluded that buying a home on a loan "just isn't worth it in this economy."
ANAROCK data show 52% of the homes Bengaluru launched in July-September 2026 were priced above Rs 1.5 crore.
That share was 34% of launches in 2024 and 23% in 2023. Those are launch figures, not sales. ANAROCK put Bengaluru's Q3 sales at about 16,650 homes, up 12% on the year.
Hegde's post follows Microsoft's announcement on 26 October. The company announced a Voluntary Exit Offer across participating teams in India, the US, the UK and Canada, with about 60,000 employees eligible.
That is about 27% of its 223,000-strong workforce, and the offer covers staff at level 70 and below. Bloomberg reported that the move is part of efforts to trim costs and retool the workforce for the AI era.
ALSO READ | Microsoft Buyout Offer Explained: Will Indian Employees Be Affected? Who Is Eligible And What They Get
The number is not a layoff target. Open magazine noted that 60,000 is how many people can consider the offer, and that it would be wrong to call it 60,000 Indian job cuts. Employees must decide in early December.
The package matches the company's standard severance, and Microsoft expects far fewer takers than its spring retirement programme drew. More than 30% of about 8,750 eligible employees accepted that earlier offer.
Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer, said in a memo that the offer creates "more ways for employees to shape their next chapter".
ALSO READ | 'Jobs Never Completely Secure': Microsoft Employee Says Exit-Offer News Left Her Sleepless
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