EXCLUSIVE: Google extends voluntary buyout offers to employees in several countries - Reuters

Google has quietly extended voluntary buyout offers to employees across five countries as the company works to redirect talent resources toward artificial intelligence and cloud computing priorities without resorting to involuntary layoffs.

A Google spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that the company began offering voluntary exit packages in June 2026 to employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. "In 2025, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance," the spokesperson said. "This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead."

The expansion follows programmes run since 2025 for certain divisions in the United States and the United Kingdom. At the time, executives described the initiative as an opportunity for employees who no longer feel aligned with the company's pace or strategic direction.

The number of employees who have accepted the latest offers has not been determined. In Switzerland, where Google employs around 5,000 people and operates a major engineering hub in Zurich, packages reportedly covered multiple divisions. Employees received notice in mid-June, had until mid-July to respond, and those who accepted began departing in August, according to reporting by Reuters.

Earlier rounds reportedly offered one month's salary for each year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months. Terms for the current international expansion have not been officially confirmed.

Notably, Google Cloud and DeepMind — the units Google CFO Anat Ashkenazi has publicly identified as key hiring priorities — appear to have been excluded from the buyout offers, consistent with past practice.

The selective approach underscores a deliberate workforce strategy: grow headcount in strategically critical AI and cloud functions while voluntarily thinning ranks in lower-priority divisions. Alphabet's total workforce reached 204,757 at the end of September 2026, an increase of roughly 10,000 employees in six months, boosted by organic hiring and the acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz.

Google is not alone in turning to voluntary departures as a cost management tool. Microsoft reportedly offered voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees the previous week, signalling a broader trend among large technology employers seeking to manage AI-era cost pressures without the reputational and operational disruption of mass involuntary layoffs.

For HR leaders, the Google model offers a case study in workforce segmentation: using voluntary exit programmes as a precision instrument rather than a blunt cost-cutting tool, targeted by geography and business unit, while protecting capability in areas of strategic investment.