Exclusive-Google extends voluntary buyout offers to employees in several countries

By Marleen Kaesebier and Kenrick Cai

ZURICH, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google has expanded employee buyout offers to several countries this year as it looks to rein in rising costs amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence.

The search engine company confirmed to Reuters that it began offering voluntary exit packages in June to some employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.

Reuters could not determine how many employees have accepted the latest round of offers, which had not previously been reported.

"In 2025, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead."

The move comes amid mounting AI spending that has unnerved Wall Street and dented Alphabet's stock price. Microsoft last week offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees in an effort to contain costs.

Alphabet's workforce has grown steadily in recent quarters, but it has sought to shift resources toward priority areas.

The latest buyouts follow voluntary exit programs offered since last year to employees in some divisions in the US and Britain. Executives have described the program as an option for employees who no longer feel aligned with the company's pace or direction.

In at least one case, the company followed its voluntary offers to a division with a round of layoffs.

Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi has repeatedly highlighted AI and cloud computing as key hiring priorities in quarterly earnings presentations. Employees in Google Cloud and AI unit DeepMind have been excluded from past buyout offers.

The latest expansion appears to follow the same pattern.

SWITZERLAND

In Switzerland, where Google employs about 5,000 people and has a major engineering hub in Zurich, three people familiar with the matter said the program covered multiple divisions but excluded DeepMind.

Employees began leaving in August after Google offered voluntary exit packages in the country, the people said.

Google announced the packages in mid-June and gave responses by mid-July to employees who applied, they said. Staff who accepted received one month's salary for each year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months.

One person said at least four employees in a team of about 50 had accepted the offer.

Google laid off more than 200 employees in Switzerland in 2023, prompting staff protests and a walkout. 

(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier in Zurich and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco. Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Mark Potter)