Google will keep its employees working from home for at least another full year.
Staff at the search giant — who were first sent home in March due to the coronavirus pandemic — are not expected to return in a large capacity until at least July 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The decision slams a majority of Google’s 200,000 employees around the world and was fueled in part around uncertainty regarding the upcoming school year.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was reportedly “swayed in part by sympathy for employees with families to plan for uncertain school years that may involve at-home instruction, depending on geography.”
Google had previously told employees to prepare to work from home through the end of 2020, with a return to the office tentatively scheduled for January.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company in May said that employees working from home will be allowed to expense up to $1,000 for home office needs like standing desks and ergonomic chairs.
Silicon Valley’s tech titans have signaled that working from home may be the new norm moving forward. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey previously said that he foresees some employees choosing to forego daily trips to the office forever, while Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said half of the social-networking giant’s employees could be working remotely within the next five to 10 years.
Shares of Alphabet were up 0.8 percent in Monday morning trading.
Source: Nypost
