Exit packages now extend to staff in five countries as Alphabet reins in AI-driven costs
Google has extended its voluntary buyout program to employees in Canada, offering some staff severance in exchange for leaving as parent company Alphabet works to contain costs tied to heavy artificial intelligence (AI) spending.
The company confirmed to Reuters that it began offering voluntary exit packages in June 2026 to some employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. Reuters could not determine how many workers accepted.
“In 2025, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance,” a Google spokesperson said. “This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead.”
How Google voluntary exits work
That 2025 starting point refers to buyouts Google offered in some United States and British divisions, according to Reuters. Executives have described the program as an option for employees who no longer feel aligned with the company’s direction.
Eligibility is limited. Reuters reported that staff in Google Cloud and DeepMind, the company’s AI research unit, were excluded from past rounds, and the latest expansion appears to follow the same pattern.
The Swiss offers give the clearest view of the terms. Sources told Reuters that Swiss staff who accepted received one month’s salary per year of service, capped at 12 months. Google has not disclosed Canadian terms, eligibility numbers or affected divisions.
Rogers offered voluntary buyouts to half its workforce in April 2026.
Buyouts before layoffs
Support for the program has come from inside Google. The Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America (AWU-CWA) Local 9009, which represents some Google staff in the United States, has long pushed for buyouts before layoffs.
“The latest round of VEPs offered at Google makes one thing clear: organizing works,” the union’s executive board said in a Feb. 12, 2026, statement on an earlier expansion.
Even so, the union says voluntary exit packages (VEPs), offered to more than 70,000 Googlers, have not always prevented cuts. It points to a 2025 round in the Platforms and Devices division that was still followed by mandatory layoffs. The union has not commented publicly on the June 2026 expansion.
The buyouts also come as Alphabet keeps growing. Its workforce reached 204,757 at Sept. 30, 2026, up from 190,167 a year earlier, according to its third-quarter earnings release. Microsoft offered buyouts to 60,000 employees in late October 2026, Reuters reported.
