Google has offered severance packages to its US-based hardware and platform teams: Those who chose to quit now will be guaranteed an undisclosed severance package.
It’s a win for the Alphabet Workers Union, which has been petitioning for Google to give workers buyouts before any layoffs. On the other hand, though, it’s a strong signal that those layoffs are indeed on the horizon.
Google has ushered in plenty of layoffs across the past few years, alongside wider layoffs across the entire tech industry. 2025, it seems, is no different.
What We Know About the Buyouts
The news was delivered to employees at the search giant’s Platforms and Devices team last week by senior vice president Rick Osterloh.
There’s no confirmation as to whether any other teams beyond Platforms and Devices will be eligible for the initiative, which is called the “voluntary exit program.”
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The Platforms and Devices division was launched in April 2024, and focuses on products including the Pixel phone line, Android, Chrome, and Photos.
How Big Are the Severance Packages?
The amount of cash that employees will get for quitting has not been disclosed.
However, we do have a point of comparison: According to SFGate, which broke the news, a previous round of layoffs in January 2023 included a severance deal that offered workers six months of healthcare alongside “at least 16 weeks of their salaries.” 12,000 workers were laid off that month.
Google is framing these new severage packages as a way to retain its most committed workers. In its statement, the company says: “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 Unending Tech Industry Job Search
Things aren’t looking great for anyone hoping to enter or re-enter the tech industry in 2025. Plenty of companies are hiring, but layoffs are constant as well, thanks in part to AI-powered corporate interests.
Plus, the weak labor market that has resulted is empowering businesses to create worse work environments, from ideologically-driven DEI rollbacks to RTO mandates that reduce workplace flexibility.
What’s the solution? For many workers seeking employment, it’s to keeping sending out resumes in the thousands and to hope the job market turns around.
At the Alphabet Workers Union, Google software engineer and the union’s organizing chair Alan McAvinney has a more specific goal: For Google to “commit to practices like offers of voluntary buyouts and fair terms of severance by codifying them in its actual written policies.”
