Google has offered “voluntary” buyouts to more than 25,000 staffers in an effort to ensure its workforce is “deeply committed” to its goals, the company confirmed on Monday.
The Big Tech giant extended the unusual offer last week to members of its platforms and devices division, which includes teams responsible for its Android software, Chrome browser and Google Photos, as well as hardware like the Pixel, Fitbit and Nest.
Google offered a “voluntary exit program that provides US-based Googlers working on this team the ability to voluntarily leave the company with a severance package,” according to a statement first obtained by the tech blog 9 to 5 Google last Thursday.
“There’s tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency,” the statement added.
Google employees have until Feb. 20 to apply for the buyout and will find out by March 25 if they were approved, according to CNBC.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the more than 25,000 employees in the division are eligible for the buyout or what the severance package would be.
Google did not immediately respond to The Post’s request comment.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet were down about 1% in early trading Monday.
Like most US tech firms, Google, led by CEO Sundar Pichai, is pouring major resources into developing advanced artificial intelligence while cutting back in other areas of its business.
Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi said last October that the company would be looking for “additional opportunities” for cost cuts.
Before the buyout offer surfaced, members of the Alphabet Workers Union circulated a petition expressing concern about “instability at Google.” It has received more than 1,400 signatures to date.
The petition demands changes to company policy including guaranteed severance, buyout offers before layoffs and a guarantee of individual merit-based employee ratings rather than a tier-based system.
“Ongoing rounds of layoffs make us feel insecure about our jobs,” the petition says. “The company is clearly in a strong financial position, making the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation hurt even more.”
Google previously laid off about 12,000 employees in 2023 and several thousand additional employees across multiple teams throughout last year.
