Why Google is rehiring former engineers amid the global AI talent war

With Big Tech locked in a fierce AI hiring battle, Google is turning to former staff, rehiring experienced engineers to strengthen research

As competition for artificial intelligence talent grows fiercer, Google is leaning on a familiar strategy: bringing back its own former employees. With rivals like OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic competing aggressively for top engineers and researchers, the tech giant is increasingly rehiring people who once worked there, CNBC reported.

 

Around 20 per cent of the software engineers Google hired for artificial intelligence roles in 2025 were “boomerang” employees -- people returning to the company after leaving earlier. That share has risen from previous years, CNBC reported.

 

Why ex-Google staff are returning

 

John Casey, Google’s head of compensation, recently discussed the rehiring trend with employees during an internal meeting. According to audio reviewed by CNBC, Casey said that AI-focused engineers are attracted by Google’s financial strength and its vast computing resources, which are essential for advanced AI research and development.

 

Layoffs created a large talent pool

 

Google has a sizeable base of former employees to rehire from, especially after its biggest-ever layoffs in early 2023. At that time, parent company Alphabet cut 12,000 jobs, reducing its workforce by about 6 per cent.

 

Those job cuts came amid a broader market slowdown driven by high inflation and rising interest rates. Since then, Google has continued with smaller rounds of layoffs and employee buyouts.   

 

High-profile AI returns

 

One of Google’s biggest rehiring wins came late last year with the return of Noam Shazeer, a leading AI researcher.

 

Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas had left Google in 2021 to start Character.AI, reportedly after the company declined to move faster on its internal chatbot efforts. In August 2024, the two -- along with other researchers from Character.AI -- rejoined DeepMind under a licensing deal for the startup’s technology.

 

Faster decisions and fewer layers

 

Over the past year, Google has also changed how it operates. The company has released products faster, even if they are not fully polished. It has also tried to cut red tape by offering buyouts and removing more than one-third of managers overseeing small teams, CNBC reported in August.

 

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who returned to an active role in 2023, has at times personally contacted potential hires, CNBC reported. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also reportedly reached out directly to AI researchers as the fight for talent heats up.

 

Boomerang hiring rises across tech

 

The trend is not limited to Google. Across the tech industry, the number of employees returning to previous employers has increased, according to data released earlier this year by ADP Research. The “information” sector, as classified by ADP, showed the sharpest rise in boomerang hiring.

 

Google is also using talent rehiring as part of a broader push to regain ground in generative AI. The company fell behind after OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022 and struggled with several early product launches.

 

However, Google has regained momentum this year. Heavy spending on AI infrastructure and strong uptake of its Gemini app have helped its recovery. The company unveiled its latest model, Gemini 3, last month.   

 

Rivals still poaching Google talent

 

Google remains one of the biggest sources of AI talent for competitors. Earlier this year, Microsoft hired around two dozen employees from Google’s DeepMind research lab, CNBC reported in July.

 

OpenAI and Meta have also been aggressive. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees in June that Meta had been offering $100 million signing bonuses and said he was working hard to retain staff.