Bracing for big AI impact, Google begins to offer voluntary exit to employees: Report

There is no official number of employees affected, the AI-impacted roles include Google's advertising, products and services division.

Earlier this month, Google announced that it will be doubling its investments in AI and scaling infrastructure to power the company's revenue and growth across the board. It also revealed that Google's 2026 CapEx investments are expected to be in the range of $175 to 185 billion dollars.

Now, Google's chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, has reportedly sent a memo to employees to brace for a big AI impact.

In the note (as seen by Business Insider), he has warned that those who are falling behind in terms of the pace at which Google wants to operate can seek a voluntary exit.

"The game is dynamic, the pace is electric, and the stakes are high. Everyone in GBO (Global Business Organisation) needs to be all in on the mission and believe AI will have even greater impact," Schindler noted.

There is no official number of employees affected. The AI-impacted roles include some units in GBO's solutions teams, sales, corporate development, and others.

"While all GBO functions are essential to our long-term strategy, we've decided not to offer VEP for particular roles (customer sales teams and other customer-facing roles) to limit as much disruption to our customers as possible," Schindler added.

It is not just Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and others, are shifting focus to automating more work with gen AI tools.

Earlier this week, Salesforce reduced its workforce by around 1000 roles in the latest round of job cuts.

The landscape in software technology is changing in rapid pace, and many experts want coders to upskill themselves with AI advancements and become a valuable asset.

Earlier this month, the world's leading gen AI service providers OpenAI and Anthropic launched GPT-5.3 Codex and Claude Opus 4.6, respectively. Though they are the most advanced gen AI coding tools, and they are expected to be outranked in a few months.

India-based Sridhar Vembu, the co-founder of Zoho Corp, has a warning to software professionals in India. He said that people who are making a living from coding start considering alternative livelihoods.

"At this point, it is best for those of us who depend on writing code for a living to start considering alternative livelihoods. I include myself in this. I don't say this in panic, but with calm acceptance and embrace," Vembu said.

It will take a lot of effort for people to stay up to date on gen AI, which progresses rapidly every passing week, and there is an inevitable scenario where people with no AI skills will lose jobs.

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