Google expands voluntary departure program to five countries while prioritizing AI

Google expanded a voluntary departure program to five countries in June, Reuters reports: Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. Brazil was not included. The company has not disclosed how many employees received or accepted the offers, whose conditions vary by country and team. Reuters says the initiative comes as Google controls expenses and prioritizes investments and hiring in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

In Switzerland, where Google employs approximately 5,000 people, sources told Reuters that employees who accepted the offer received one month of salary for each year worked, capped at 12 months. The first departures took place in August, and at least four people from a team of about 50 reportedly accepted; there is no estimate of the total number or confirmation that the same amounts were offered in the other countries. DeepMind was excluded from the Swiss initiative, according to those sources.