Google extends work from home option for employees till September 2021

Google employees can continue to work from home till September 2021. Alphabet’s Chief Executive Officer, Sundar Pichai in an email to all company’s staff said that its subsidiary Google has extended work from home by a few more months in response to the Covid-pandemic.

According to NYT report, Google is also testing the idea of a ‘flexible workweek’ once it is safe for employees to return office. The plan is to make Google employees attend office for three days a week while working from home the remaining days. Pichai further wrote that the flexible work model will help in greater ‘productivity, collaboration and well-being’ of employees.

Google in July this year became the first company to extend work from home option till the summer of 2021. In an email, to employees, Pichai wrote that global voluntary work from home will be available through June 30, 2021, for roles that do not require physically attending office premises. The announcement extended its previous arrangement till January 2021.

The IT behemoth was also one of the first large companies to recommend employees work from home during the early day of Covid-19 pandemic. It also said employees who need to take care of family members will be given more time to return to office after re-opening.

Twitter made headline in May when it announced work from home ‘forever’ for its employees if they wish. Facebook also announced that its employees can also ask for a permanent work-from-home arrangement, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg hoped half of the organization to work remotely within the next five to ten years.