Just a week after Microsoft offered voluntary exit packages to around 60,000 employees and hours after Canva announced plans to restructure 22% of its workforce, Google is expanding its own employee buyout programme to five more markets. The search giant is extending the offers to select employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland, as it reassesses the workforce it needs for its next phase of growth.
According to Reuters, Google's buyout programme began in June, as the company looks to rein in rising costs amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence. "This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead," a Google spokesperson familiar with the matter told Reuters. The spokesperson added that the latest move builds on voluntary exit programmes with severance that some of its teams introduced in 2025.
The workforce adjustment comes at an interesting time for Google. While the company is offering employees a way to leave, it is also directing more resources towards AI development, cloud computing and infrastructure. Its full-year 2026 capital expenditure (capex) forecast stands between $195 billion and $205 billion, with the vast majority expected to go towards technical AI infrastructure, data centres and custom tensor processing units (TPUs).
Google Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi reinforced that direction during a recent earnings call, saying the company would continue adding workers in AI and cloud computing, which she described as key areas for investment and growth.
David Adubiina
Who Is Google's Buyout Offer For?
Unlike Microsoft's severance package, which is targeted at employees at level 70 and below, Google's offer, according to executives, is an option for employees who no longer feel aligned with the company's pace or direction. The company is yet to disclose details of its financial package and selection criteria across all five countries, although its offer in Switzerland provides an indication of what eligible employees could receive.
What Google Offered Employees in Switzerland
According to Reuters, employees in Switzerland are being offered one month's salary for every year they have worked at Google, with the payout capped at 12 months' salary. An employee with 12 or more years of service, for instance, could receive a maximum severance payment equivalent to one year's salary.
Google reportedly announced the packages in mid-June and informed employees who applied of its decisions by mid-July.
Which Google Employees Are Excluded?
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