Google expands voluntary retirement program to employees in five countries

Google is expanding its voluntary retirement program to employees in five countries: Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. The move aims to cut costs amid massive investments in artificial intelligence. In Switzerland, severance packages of up to 12 months' salary were offered. The AI and cloud divisions are not included in the program.

Google is expanding its voluntary retirement program to employees in five additional countries: Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. The move is intended to reduce costs and redirect resources to the fields of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, amid massive investments in AI infrastructure. In Switzerland, where about 5,000 employees are employed, severance packages of up to 12 months' salary were offered. According to sources, the program likely does not include the AI and cloud divisions (Google DeepMind and Google Cloud). A Google spokesperson confirmed the expansion of the program, but the company did not disclose how many employees accepted the offer. The move joins similar efficiency measures at Microsoft, which offered retirement programs to about 60,000 employees.