Google offers voluntary exit packages to employees in five countries amid AI spending

Google expands the optional buyout scheme to five countries for any employees as the technology giant seeks to cut expenses and intensify up its investment in AI.

Reuters reports that the company started offering voluntary exit packages in June to certain employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. A number of employees have taken up those offers, Reuters said Wednesday.

“Beginning in 2025, some of our teams will offer a voluntary separation program with severance,” a Google representative told Reuters in an email. “This summer, in June, we made that program available around the world in a few countries to help us keep doing this important work.”

The new deals come after similar initiatives were rolled out in certain teams in the United States and Britain. Google has been trying to shift funding to key groups, such as those working on AI and cloud computing.

Those working at Google Cloud and its in-house AI research group Deep Mind have so far been ineligible for the buyouts, and it seems that will be a practice of this latest round of scaling too.

Those who took the deal in Switzerland would have received one month’s salary for each year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months. The exiting began in August, one person said.

This comes as big tech firms come under pressure to cope with increased costs yet spend huge sums on AI infrastructure. Microsoft has launched a voluntary buyout for eligible staff.