Google plans to resume office work, but also distributes 100,000 yen to encourage remote work

by Haldane Martin

Following the epidemic of the new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), many technology companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple have been forced to work remotely by employees, but with the convergence of the infectious disease. Apple has begun to bring employees back to the office, and Twitter and Facebook have allowed permanent employee remote work. Google, which had switched all North American employees to work from home, has also announced that it will reopen offices in cities around the world from July 6th.

Working from home and the office
https://www.blog.google/inside-google/working-google/working-from-home-and-office/

Google is reopening offices in July on a limited basis-The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21271100/google-employees-work-from-home-option-office-reopen-covid-19

In his blog, Thunder Pichai, Google's CEO, said that returning to the office is voluntary, but anyone who needs to come in can leave. However, in order to keep the number of people in the office at around 10%, it is expected that the employees will come to work after joining the office in a form like 'once every few weeks.' “To keep social distances and follow disinfection guidelines, the offices of the future will have a different atmosphere than they were before the closure. Our goal is to give everyone an equal share of time and a safety protocol. To protect the company, we have to limit the number of people in the company, ”said Pichai.

Also, by September, the rotation program will be expanded and the upper limit of the capacity will be increased from 10% to 30% as far as the external environment allows.

Only a few employees will need to return to their offices by 2020, and they will be notified by email, but all other employees are free to leave. “We recommend working at home when possible,” said Pichai. In addition, as many employees are expected to work from home during the rest of 2020, the cost of required equipment and office furniture is equivalent to $ 1000 (about 101,000 yen) for employees around the world. It has also been announced that incentives will be distributed.

In addition, the company is also considering virtualizing the in-house experience, which will be realized while focusing on health, wellness and fun. Examples include exercises by instructors through Google Fit , nutrition and cooking classes held by Google cooks, and reading time for children.