Google employees to work from home until September
Google has reportedly delayed a return to the office until next September but has ruled out a permanent move to remote working.
In an email first seen by the New York Times, Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google’s parent company Alphabet, told employees they will return to the office on 1 September but expects employees to work there for at least three days a week thereafter.
Other tech firms like Twitter and Facebook have said employees can work remotely indefinitely which would allow staff to move across regions.
Pichai told staff the company was testing the idea of a “flexible work week” but employees will be expected to “live within commuting distance” of Google offices.
“We are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and wellbeing,” Pichai reportedly said in the email. “No company at our scale has ever created a fully hybrid work force model – though a few are starting to test it – so it will be interesting to try.”
This pilot will not apply to all employees – those in more client-facing roles will be expected to work in the office as well as those who need to onsite in data centres or labs.
Google was one of the first companies to allow employees to work from home as the risk of the virus became apparent. It has repeatedly delayed a return to the office from January 2021 to July and now to September.
It is unclear whether Google will make it compulsory for employees to receive the coronavirus vaccine.