Google extended buyout offers to staff in five more countries as its workforce grew to 204,757 by September. The company said the program is an option for those who no longer align with its direction. Employees got one month’s salary for every year worked, though AI and cloud units were excluded.
Despite the voluntary exit program, Google's workforce has continued to grow.
As of September 2026, the company's headcount stood at 204,757, an increase of nearly 10,000 employees in just six months.
This growth was partly due to the acquisition of Wiz, a cybersecurity firm that added around 2,000 employees to Google's roster in March this year.
The voluntary exit program is not new for Google. It has been offered to employees in some US and British divisions since last year.
The company describes this program as an option for those who no longer align with its direction.
As AI and cloud computing become Google's primary hiring focus, employees from its Google Cloud and AI unit DeepMind were excluded from previous buyout offers.
The exit packages were offered in mid-June, with a deadline for applications until mid-July.
Employees who opted for the buyout received one month's salary for every year they worked at Google, up to a maximum of 12 months.
Notably, Google has around 5,000 employees in Switzerland alone, where it has a major engineering hub based out of Zurich.