Google pays benefits to employees who voluntarily resign, based on years of service. Some people have officially left the company since August 2026.

On November 4, 2026 (US time), Google confirmed that it has begun implementing a subsidized voluntary leave program for some employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland from June 2026. Previously, the program was applied in some departments in the US and UK. The number of employees accepting offers in these five countries has not been determined.

Simply put, eligible employees can receive an allowance to proactively leave the company, or refuse and continue working. Switzerland is where the most specific conditions are recorded: recipients of the support package are paid one month's salary for each year of work, up to a maximum of 12 months' salary.

A Google spokesperson said: In 2025, some of the company's teams have launched a voluntary leave program with benefits. By June 2026, Google expanded the program to several countries to "support the important work ahead."

Google has about 5,000 employees in Switzerland, with a major engineering center in Zurich. According to people familiar with the matter, the company announced the support package in mid-June 2026 and gave employees until mid-July 2026 to respond.

The program applies to many departments but does not include DeepMind, Google's AI research lab. Employees accept the offer to start leaving the company from August 2026.

It should be noted that the one-month salary for each year of work is a condition recognized specifically in Switzerland, not a general support level for all 5 countries.

This move comes as Alphabet, Google's parent company, both spends heavily on AI and adjusts the way it allocates human resources. Business results for the third quarter of 2026 show that Alphabet has 204,757 employees as of September 30, 2026, an increase of 10,089 people compared to 194,668 people at the end of March 2026.

Hiring activity and the purchase of cybersecurity firm Wiz contributed to the increase. The deal was completed on March 11, 2026, bringing about 2,000 Wiz employees to Google. Alphabet does not separate the number of new hires from the number of people coming from Wiz.

AI and cloud computing continue to be priority recruitment directions emphasized by Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi. Google Cloud and DeepMind have each been excluded from previous voluntary redundancy offers.

Thus, the payment of benefits for a part of employees to leave is happening in parallel with the addition of people in other fields. The available numbers show a process of adjusting the personnel structure, not enough to conclude that Google is shrinking its entire workforce.

The fact that the program appeared in the middle of the AI ​​investment race does not mean that every position proposed to leave has been replaced by AI. Published information shows that Google is controlling costs and adjusting personnel priorities. Number of automated jobs: No confirmed information.

However, there is one detail that workers need to keep in mind: Google has at least once cut staff in a department after offering voluntary resignation. In Switzerland alone, in 2023 the company fired more than 200 people, leading to a wave of protests and a collective walkout of employees. New cutback plan in 5 countries in this round: No confirmed information.

For workers, the notable information is not only the level of benefits, but also where Google wants to put resources. A business can still increase total headcount while allowing employees in some departments to leave. The number of people leaving Google in 5 countries and the level of support outside of Switzerland will be data to continue to monitor.

Source: Reuters, Tradingview