Google is delaying the return for employees. The date to return was originally set for July 2021 and has now been pushed back to September 2021.
What We Know:
- Google has delayed its plan for employees to return to the office, moving the date from July to September 2021, according to a staff memo sent Sunday night by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The company will test out a flexible work week, which includes working only three days out of the week in the office. The rest of the time will be working from home.
- In an email, first reported by the New York Times, Pichai said, “We are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being.” According to the Seattle Times, one thing not mentioned in Pichai’s email is whether the company will require employees to take the coronavirus vaccine before returning to the office. Still, Google recommends that employees obtain the vaccine when their health care provider or local public-health authority has told them it’s available to them.
- In March, Google was one of the first companies to tell employees to start working from home before other corporations had a grasp on the risks of working together in enclosed offices. Employees were originally supposed to return in January 2021, but the date was repeatedly pushed back due to the coronavirus’s rising cases and severity.
- Pichai’s email instructs employees to read the full FAQ, a lengthy website with more details about the office returns. In it, the company says employees will need to return to their assigned office, adding that it believes teams work best when anchored by shared projects, according to a company Q&A viewed by CNBC.
“You will need to work from your assigned Google office and will be expected to live in commuting distance of your assigned offices. We are actively investing in our hub strategy to create more roles — and options — in global offices over time.”
- In October, Dropbox announced plans to become “virtual first.” This means the company’s nearly 3,000 employees will continue to work remotely most of the time but will occasionally go into the office for more collaborative and team-building work. The company will revamp its offices to help facilitate this, turning them into what it calls “Dropbox Studios.” In addition, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in May, as many as 50% of the company’s employees could be working remotely within the next five to 10 years. While Twitter has said some employees who want to work from home permanently can.
Google employees’ return date could likely change again, depending on what happens with the coronavirus vaccine. As of right now, these are the permanent changes.
