Alphabet’s Google has scaled up employee buyout offers to several countries this year as it moves to contain rising overhead despite massive capital expenditures on AI.
The search engine company confirmed that it initiated voluntary separation programs in June to select staff in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement, “In 2025, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance.”
“This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead.”
The significant move comes fueled by escalating AI capital expenditure that have unnerved Wall Street and dented Alphabet’s stock price. Earlier, Microsoft offered a voluntary exit package to 60,000 employees in an effort to contain costs. Alphabet’s workforce has grown steadily in recent years but it has sought to reallocate capital toward strategic growth vectors.
The early retirement incentive program was offered since last year to employees in some divisions in the US and Britain.
However, executives have explained the program as an option for employees who no longer feel connected to the company’s direction.
Primarily employees in Google Cloud and AI unit DeepMind have been previously exempted from buyout offers. Google announced the packages in mid-June and responded by mid-July to employees who applied, staff who accepted received one month’s salary for each period of service up to a maximum of 12 months.
