Google has extended its voluntary buyout offer to employees in several countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. The voluntary exit packages were offered in June this year and it remains unclear if the employees have accepted it.
This comes as the technology giants continue to spend more and more on development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the voluntary buyouts are part of a larger strategy to rein in rising costs.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the news, stating: “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 important work ahead.”
Last week, the Microsoft also offered voluntary buyout to 60,000 of its employees. Now the search engine company has also expanded its program which was previously offered to employees in the United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (UK).
In Switzerland, where Google employs around 5,000 people, employees who accepted the packages began leaving in August, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The company offered one month’s salary for every year of service, with payments capped at 12 months. At least four employees from one team of around 50 accepted the offer, Reuters reported.
However, employees working at Google’s artificial intelligence research unit DeepMind were excluded from the programme.
The company has also kept workers in its cloud computing division outside previous buyout offers as it continues to prioritise investment in AI and cloud technology.
Google previously laid off more than 200 employees in Switzerland in 2023, prompting protests and a walkout by staff.
