Google to reopen global offices from July as gradual return to workplace gets under way
Google will reopen its offices on July 6 for employees keen to return to the workplace, the company’s chief executive Sundar Pichai said, as tech companies examine staggered backto-work strategies.
Depending on the “external conditions”, the Alphabet-owned company is aiming for a gradual return of employees – starting with about 10 per cent office capacity before ramping up to 30 per cent by September.
“Beginning July 6, assuming external conditions allow, we will start to open more buildings in more cities … this will give Googlers who need to come back to the office the opportunity to return on a limited, rotating basis,” Mr Pichai told employees in an internal email.
The company will approach the return to office mode with a “gradual, phased approach, taking both team and individual needs and preferences into account”, said Mr Pichai.
Google has a limited number of staff whose roles are needed back in the office this calendar year, he said. Returning to the workplace will be voluntary until the end of 2020 and the company still encourages its employees to continue to work from home if they can, he added.
Google began shutting its offices in the first week of March to stem the spread of coronavirus. In the US, more than 30 million US jobs have been affected at least temporarily amid shutdowns owing to the pandemic.
US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has warned that a full economic recovery in the country may take until the end of 2021 and require the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Google’s return-to-work strategy comes at a time when other tech giants are weighing up various options to manage their physical offices during the crisis.
Facebook and Twitter have already told employees to work from home permanently, if they want to. Apple, however, is bringing its staff back to stores in different phases after it shut down its retail operations.
Google said it is open to employees who want to relocate working remotely. But Mr
Pichai advised them to consult their managers and review guidelines around personal factors, such as tax filings and health coverage.
This trend could potentially affect costly housing markets in California and New York, where most of the Google’s full-time employees in the US are based.
For those who want to continue working from home, Mr Pichai said the company will giving each employee an allowance of $1,000 (Dh3,670) to purchase necessary equipment and office furniture, such as standing desks and ergonomic chairs.
“We are also investing more in your work-from-home set-up to make sure you have what you need to be productive and comfortable,” he said in the memo.
Google is investing heavily in its physical space expansions at various sites including San Jose, New York and at the company’s sprawling headquarters in Mountain View, California.
“Our campuses are designed to enable collaboration and community … in fact, some of our greatest innovations were the result of chance encounters in the office and it’s clear this is something many of us don’t want to lose,” Mr Pichai said.
He said the new emphasis on remote working will not affect those ongoing projects.
“In all scenarios I expect us to need physical spaces to get people together, absolutely,” Mr Pichai told technolofy magazine Wired last week..
“We have a lot of growth planned ahead. So even if there is some course correction I don’t think our existing footprint is going to be the issue. I am positive we will put it to good use and I am anxious to see some of those projects get done.”
Facebook and Twitter have already told employees to work from home permanently, if they want to