Google has been aggressively rehiring former employees to staff its AI teams, with 20% of software engineers working on artificial intelligence that Google hired in 2025 coming from its alumni pool. The figure, confirmed by a company spokesperson, represents an increase from prior years and reflects a deliberate shift in how Google competes for scarce AI expertise.
John Casey, Google's head of compensation, recently told employees that AI-focused software engineers are drawn back by the company's deep pockets and the computational infrastructure needed for advanced AI work. Google has a substantial alumni pool to mine: the company cut about 12,000 jobs in January 2023, roughly 6% of its workforce, during tech's broader pullback. Rolling layoffs and buyouts have continued since.
The most prominent return came in August 2024 when Noam Shazeer, Character.AI co-founder and CEO, rejoined Google along with co-founder Daniel De Freitas and about 30 researchers. The deal reportedly cost Google $2.7 billion in licensing fees, a figure that illustrates how far the company will go to secure strategic talent. Shazeer, a co-author of the transformer architecture paper, now helps lead the Gemini project.
ADP data shows boomerang employees made up 35% of all new hires in March 2025, the highest rate since tracking began in 2018. The information sector leads with 68% of new hires being returnees, double the rate from a year earlier. Google's 20% figure for AI roles specifically sits below the industry average, though the company says it's also hiring more talent directly from competitors compared to 2024.
The Bottom Line: Google's strategy acknowledges a simple reality: in a market where OpenAI reportedly offers $100 million signing bonuses to top researchers, rehiring proven talent who already know your systems may be faster than outbidding everyone else.
QUICK FACTS
- 20% of Google's AI software engineer hires in 2025 were former employees (company-confirmed)
- Google cut 12,000 jobs in January 2023, its largest layoffs ever
- Noam Shazeer returned to Google in August 2024 via a reported $2.7 billion Character.AI licensing deal
- Industry-wide, 68% of new tech hires in March 2025 were boomerangs, per ADP
- Alphabet stock up more than 60% in 2025
