Google will begin reopening offices starting on July 6th for a limited number of employees. In a blog post published on Tuesday, CEO Sundar Pichai said that, while returning to work will be optional for the rest of the year, those who need to come in will be able to on a rotating basis — one day every couple weeks. The company is also giving workers a $1,000 stipend for home office equipment to make remote work easier.
In September, Google plans to let more people back into the office, until buildings reach about 30 percent capacity. Those who need to come in to do their jobs will be notified by June 10th.
Pichai also said the company will be more flexible with remote working options after the pandemic lifts. “Moving ahead, we are looking to develop more overall flexibility in how we work,” he wrote. “Our campuses are designed to enable collaboration and community…at the same time, we are very familiar with distributed work as we have many offices around the world and open-minded about the lessons we’ll learn through this period.”
The news comes a week after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company will allow employees to work remotely beyond the pandemic, saying it would be “the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale.”
Twitter and Square already announced similar policies, extending remote working options for most employees indefinitely.
