TLTP
\nCALIFORNIA
\nGoogle extended the return of its staff to offices until September 2021, joining a growing number of companies across various industries that are extending flexible work options due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
\nAlphabet-owned Google was one of the first companies to switch to remote working in March as the pandemic spread around the world. It is the third time, it has delayed plans for employees to return to its offices. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed the latest decision on Tuesday.
\nIn May, the company said it would reopen most of its global offices on July 6 but that was pushed to January 2021 due to a surge in the number of cases and subsequently to June 30 next year before the latest decision.
\nGoogle is also considering implementing a \u201cflexible work week\u201d once it is safe for employees to return to the office, allowing staff to work at least three days a week in the office for \u201ccollaboration days\u201d, the company\u2019s spokeswoman added.
\nThe company\u2019s chief executive Sundar Pichai informed employees by email of the possible new working environment. \u201cWe are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration and well-being,\u201d Mr Pichai said.
\n\u201cNo company at our scale has ever created a fully hybrid workforce model, though a few are starting to test it \u2026 so it will be interesting to try,\u201d he added.
\nSecond and third waves of Covid-19 have forced many countries to implement further lockdowns. Google is currently investing heavily in expanding its offices in San Jose, New York and at the company\u2019s sprawling headquarters in Mountain View, California.
\nAn internal survey in September, showed a majority of Google employees do not want to return to the office full-time. More than six in 10 employees said they want to return to the office at some point but not every day. Only 8 percent of Google\u2019s employees said they want to come to the office every day, while 10 percent want to work from home permanently.
\n\u201cWe value our offices, we value the culture \u2026 but we do think that we need to create more flexibility and more hybrid models,\u201d Mr Pichai said.
\nGlobal technology companies are considering a staggered return to work in an effort to resume office operations safely.
\nFacebook and Twitter have already given their employees an option to work from home permanently. Microsoft is also allowing some of its staff to work from home permanently.
\nApple, however, is bringing staff back to its shops in different phases after it shut down its retail operations amid the outbreak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP CALIFORNIA Google extended the return of its staff to offices until September 2021, joining a growing number of companies across various industries that are extending flexible work options due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Alphabet-owned Google was one of the first companies to switch to remote working in March as the pandemic spread around the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-162246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n