Google will require all employees to return to their office three days a weeks to work. The company has maintained that employees will eventually be able return to work after the pandemic. Many employees expressed concern, and asked if a return of brick-and-mortar office is necessary. At a recent virtual all-hands meeting, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai read out one of the top questions for employees at the company: “Google is making record profits during the pandemic, why do you (Google management) want to implement an RTO (return to office) policy at this time?”
GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, AMAZON’S RETURN TO WORK POLICIES HAVE CHANGED MANY TIMES
Many companies have had to change their policies multiple times before they can return to work. In June 2021, Amazon withdrew its original plan to return to work and notified regular employees that the company would allow them to return to the office three days a week without requiring a full-time presence. Amazon said at the time that it was “continuously learning and evolving.” In October, Amazon said the decision would be left to individual teams.
Microsoft and Google have added a 30-day “transition period” to make it easier for employees to adjust to returning to brick-and-mortar offices. Google attempted to bring back employees to its office in spring last year, but was stopped by a rise in Covid-19 infections. Google stated that employees could still apply for remote work for up to 12 month. However, this would only be approved in “the most exceptional circumstances.”
Since then, the tone of Google’s management seems to have softened. Google stated that the company had approved 85 percent in employee requests to relocate permanently or telecommute.
In a recent memo to employees, Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s executive in charge of the search, advertising, and commerce, wrote… “You are all grown-ups, and we trust that you will do something to yourselves. You must make the right choices for your family and life, while still respecting the new baseline. We don’t expect to be 100% in the mix of three days a week in the office…”
