Google delays office return; part-remote might be permanent

Hybrid model would blend office and remote work

Google has again extended the time many employees can work remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic, this time saying they can work from home until September.

The company is also testing a hybrid workplace model it may adopt once it’s safe to return to offices, with employees in company spaces for at least three “collaboration days” a week but otherwise remote, Google said Dec. 14 after the New York Times reported the work-from-home extension and pilot workplace plan.

The Mountain View digital-advertising giant confirmed that CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in a message that Google was testing whether the hybrid model would “lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being.”

The message said that although no companies of similar size had gone to a fully hybrid model, a few were starting to test it.

Google in July said it would allow employees to work from home until June 2021, after earlier saying they could work remotely till the end of this year.

Under the hybrid model, Google would allow workers to book collaboration spaces indoors and outdoors and would offer reservable desks at offices for employees needing quiet space outside home.

San Francisco social media firm Twitter said in May that employees whose jobs allow remote work could continue working from home “forever.” Also in May, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said over the next five to 10 years, half of the social media titan’s employees could be working remotely

LAURA MORTON — THE NEW YORK TIMES The headquarters of Google in Mountain View shown in October. Google suffered a major outage for about an hour on Dec. 14, when many of its most popular services went offline worldwide, providing a stark reminder of how much people and businesses rely on the Silicon Valley giant.