Google Expands Voluntary Exit Program to Five Countries Amid Rising AI Costs
In June 2025, Alphabet's Google expanded its voluntary exit program to employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland to manage rising costs linked to heavy artificial intelligence spending. The buyout offers exclude staff in priority units such as Google Cloud and DeepMind.
Alphabet’s Google expanded a voluntary exit program in June 2025 to employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. A company spokesperson confirmed that the program was introduced by some teams earlier in 2025 and rolled out globally in June. The expansion is intended to rein in rising costs amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence.
Under the terms of the offer, departing staff receive severance based on their tenure. In Switzerland, employees who accepted the package were offered one month’s salary for each year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months. At least four employees in a Swiss team of about 50 accepted the voluntary exit offer. Google employs approximately 5,000 people in Switzerland, where it operates a major engineering hub in Zurich.
The voluntary exit program follows similar initiatives previously implemented in the United States and Britain. Employees working in priority areas, specifically Google Cloud and the AI unit DeepMind, have been excluded from both past and current buyout offers. This shift in resources aligns with efforts to direct investment toward AI and cloud computing, even as mounting AI spending has dented Alphabet's stock price.
The move coincides with broader workforce adjustments across the technology sector. Last week, Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees to contain costs. For workers at Google, the voluntary exits provide an option for those who no longer feel aligned with the company's pace or direction to leave.
The latest program in Switzerland follows previous workforce reductions in the country. In 2023, Google laid off more than 200 employees in Switzerland, which prompted staff protests and a walkout.