Google offers ‘voluntary’ buyouts to hardware and platform teams

Google is offering buyouts to employees in its “Platforms and Devices” unit ahead of expected cuts.

That unit includes more than 25,000 full-time employees who work on Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Photos, Google One, Pixel, Fitbit and Nest, according to internal documents reviewed by CNBC. The voluntary exit enrollment applies to full-time employees in the U.S. It’s unclear how many of the unit’s full-time workers are based in the U.S.

“This gives eligible P&D Googlers in my direct-reporting org the ability to voluntarily leave the company with a severance package,” wrote Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of Platforms and Devices, in a memo to employees Thursday that was viewed by CNBC.

The buyouts are a signal of expected cuts within Google as it continues prioritizing artificial intelligence. In October, new CFO Anat Ashkenazi said one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost cutting as Google expands its spending on AI infrastructure in 2025. 

“Any organization can always push a little further and I’ll be looking at additional opportunities,” she said, referring to cost cutting.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the buyout program to CNBC, saying it comes after the company combined its Android and Pixel divisions last April.

“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 spokesperson said in a statement.

The “voluntary exit plan” may be a fit for employees who are struggling to meet the demands of their jobs, the unit’s hybrid work environment or whose passions don’t align with the division’s mission and goal, Osterloh said. The program is the “right next step” for the unit as it aims to “operate with more efficiency and velocity,” Osterloh added.

Employees have until Feb. 20 to enroll in the exit program. Those who volunteer will find out whether they’ve been accepted on March 25, a memo states.

Some employees praised Google’s decision to offer buyouts rather than immediately laying off employees, according to internal posts viewed by CNBC.

“The P&D email portends layoffs, which sucks but offering buyouts first is what we asked for, is the right thing to do, and Rick deserves a lot of credit for delivering,” one employee said in an internal post that received hundreds of upvotes.

Employees this week were circulating an internal petition titled “job security” ahead of expected cost cuts, CNBC reported Tuesday. One of their asks was for the company to offer voluntary buyouts before conducting layoffs.  

Last week, Google said it would be acquiring some of the engineering team from HTC Vive, one of the top virtual-reality headset makers, to “accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headset and glasses ecosystem.” 

In August, Google announced new AI features for Android devices and directly installed them in its homegrown Pixel devices, a move that put its AI in front of consumers before Apple could introduce its Apple Intelligence AI suite of features to iPhone users.

Though Platforms and Device is not the juggernaut moneymaker that Google’s search ads business is, the division’s revenue rose to $10.66 billion in the third quarter, up nearly 28% from $8.34 billion the year prior. Google reported total revenue of $88.27 billion that quarter.

Google, like other tech companies, faces the potential risk of rising hardware costs if President Donald Trump’s blanket tariffs go into effect. Trump is expected to reveal more details on which specific tariffs will be placed on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico in the coming days.

In January 2024, Google laid off some employees from its hardware and central engineering teams, as well as workers in Google Assistant, its voice-activated software product.

Tech news outlet 9to5Google first reported some of details of the unit’s voluntary exit program.

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