Google Extends Buyouts to Five More Countries as AI Capex Tops $51B

Google started offering voluntary exit packages in June to selected employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland, according to Fox Business, as the company looks to hold down payroll while it funds a large artificial intelligence buildout. A Google spokesperson told Reuters the earlier 2025 program with severance was widened to “a few countries” over the summer.

None of the outlets reporting the move could establish how many workers accepted. Fox Business said Google did not provide a figure, and Crypto Briefing noted Reuters was unable to determine the total for the latest round. The offers in these five markets had not been reported before, per Crypto Briefing.

Also read: Finland opens criminal probe into Google unit over forest clearing

Key facts

• Offers went out in June to selected staff in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland; Google’s 2025 program covered select US and UK teams.
• Swiss staff were offered one month of pay per year of service, capped at 12 months, with notifications in mid-July and first departures in August, per Crypto Briefing.
• Google Cloud and DeepMind were excluded from the buyouts, though Fox Business noted at least one division later moved to involuntary cuts after offering buyouts.
• Alphabet ended September with 204,757 employees, about 10,000 more than six months earlier, a rise Crypto Briefing partly attributes to the Wiz acquisition.
• Google reported $51.4 billion in third-quarter capital expenditure, mostly for AI infrastructure, according to Crypto Briefing.

Payroll trimmed while AI spending climbs

Chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi told investors on the July 22 earnings call that the company would keep adding staff in AI and cloud and spend on marketing for its AI products. The exit packages sit alongside that hiring push rather than replacing it: the program steers resources away from teams Google regards as less central to its strategy, and Google has said it gives employees uneasy about the company’s direction a route out with severance.

Crypto Briefing points out the mismatch in scale. Severance capped at 12 months of salary will not move a quarterly capex figure of $51.4 billion, and by fencing off Cloud and DeepMind the company signals which units it treats as core. The same outlet notes that several of the countries involved, including France and Germany, have strong worker protections that make compulsory layoffs slow, which gives voluntary schemes practical appeal.

Also read: Nike Posts Mixed Quarter and Reveals Layoffs in Pace Overhaul

Why it matters

Alphabet’s stock has been weighed down by investor concern over the pace of AI spending, and payroll is one of the few cost lines a company can reduce without slowing that buildout. The buyouts also show where the cuts land: AI research and cloud are shielded, while other divisions face exit offers and, in at least one case, layoffs afterward.

Google is not alone. Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees, covering units such as AI experiences, Copilot, finance, HR, Xbox and Windows + Devices, with marketing, commercial and security excluded, Fox Business reported. Microsoft’s chief people officer, Amy Coleman, said the program gives eligible staff considering a future elsewhere financial support to make the move.

What to watch

The next signals are whether the program reaches further countries and how Alphabet’s headcount moves in coming quarters. Neither outlet reported a figure for acceptances, so the company’s next headcount disclosure will be the first real test of whether the offers changed the total.

Written by

StockPil Editorial

The StockPil Editorial desk covers stock markets, business, finance, forex and crypto. Our AI-assisted newsroom builds each article from published, linked sources, checks it for accuracy before it goes live, and our editors review published articles and correct anything that needs it.

Sources: Fox Business, Crypto Briefing