Google Tells Employees They Won't Need To Return To Office Until July 2021

Staff at Google have been told they will not have to return to the office until June 2021.

In a note sent to employees, the company's CEO Sundar Pichai told workers they would not be expected to return for another 12 months.

According to reports, Mr Pichai made the decision himself after discussing it with Google Leads last week.

Mr Pichai said he hoped this would provide around 200,000 members of staff - across Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. - with the time they need to look after both themselves and their families.

The email, which was reported by The Wall Street Journal, says: "To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we are extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021 for roles that don't need to be in the office.

"I know it hasn't been easy. I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months."

PA

This comes after a LADbible poll found that two thirds of people in the UK would rather work from home than return to the office in August.

We asked whether or not you would feel comfortable returning to work next month following the government's announcements that businesses could ask employees to come back.

However, of the 7,942 votes we received, 68.7 percent said they would rather remain working from home, with 31.3 percent okay with going back in.

Some of those who commented on the vote said they would rather avoid the commute and put the extra money they were saving on travel to better use.

One person wrote: "Saves me 2 hours a day and £80 in fuel a month working from home. Will happily turn the £80 into a £20 gym membership and be better all round."

While another put: "I'm much happier working from home, so I'm staying put as long as possible."

However, not everyone is seeing the benefit of working from homw, with some pointing out that it is having a knock-on effect on other businesses.

One person said: "I work in a workplace canteen where we are relying on the office staff to go back to work before we can.... so here's hoping they'll go back soon or I could be out of a job."

Earlier this month, Boris Johnson announced that employers will be able to start asking staff to return to work from 1 August, scrapping previous work-from-home messaging that has been in place since March and allowing employers more discretion on how to keep staff safe.

Topics: Coronavirus, US News, Technology, Health

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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