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Google’s Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi described the company’s Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP) as “actually quite successful,” as divisions continue to downsize.
According to a report from CNBC, Cicconi told a recent town hall meeting that about 5% of employees in departments including marketing, search, people operations and hardware have taken part in VEP this year. The program provides buyouts for staff seeking career breaks or time for personal priorities.
“It’s actually quite interesting to see who’s taking a VEP,” Cicconi said. “It’s people sort of wanting a career break, sometimes to take care of family members.”
Google trims leadership ranks
The company’s workforce adjustments extend beyond voluntary exits. Brian Welle, VP of People Analytics and Performance, disclosed that 35% of Google’s managers were dismissed in the past year. The departures included managers overseeing fewer than three employees and those categorized as individual contributors.
“When we look across our entire leadership population - managers, directors, and VPs - we want them to be a smaller percentage of our overall workforce over time,” Welle said.
CEO Sundar Pichai reinforced that priority. “We have to be more efficient as we scale up so we don’t solve everything with headcount,” he said, pointing to leaner leadership structures as central to the company’s future.
Staff questions sabbatical policy
At the same meeting, employees asked whether Google would consider a sabbatical policy similar to Meta’s “recharge” leave. Alexandra Maddison, Senior Director of Benefit, responded, saying that the company has no current plans to introduce paid sabbaticals, and remains confident in existing leave provisions.
Google is continuing to channel significant investment into artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure as it reshapes teams and leadership.
