MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — With coronavirus cases still surging in the United States, Google has reportedly pushed back the timeline for when its employees will return to their offices.
The New York Times and NBC News both report Google is planning to return to in-person working in September 2021, instead of July.
That’s according memo sent to staff Sunday, which also said the company would be testing the idea of a “flexible work week” once workers do return to offices.
Under the pilot plan, The Times says employees would be asked to work at least three days in their offices for “collaboration days,” and work the other days at home.
The CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, wrote in the memo that they want to test the hypothesis that flexible work models lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being.
Google isn’t alone in testing these kinds of work schedules. Other tech companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter have expressed interest or released plans for rolling out similar models.
Another aspect of getting people back to work will be COVID-19 vaccines. However, it’s still not known whether Google and other large companies like it will require its employees to be vaccinated before returning to their offices.
Though, a spokeswoman told The Times that Google has said it recommends that employees obtain a vaccine when it’s available to them and that it may help facilitate vaccinations once the most vulnerable have been inoculated.
