Google set for partial reopening of workplace

As there are a limited number of employees whose roles are needed back in the office in 2020, Google is taking a gradual and phased approach when it comes to returning to the office.

Writing in a blog post, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, announced the reopening of Google buildings at about 10% of their capacity beginning July 6, which will subsequently be scaled up to 30% by September.

Addressing Google employees, Pichai wrote, “We’ll have rigorous health and safety measures in place to ensure social distancing and sanitisation guidelines are followed, so the office will look and feel different than when you left.

“Our goal is to be fair in the way we allocate time in the office, while limiting the number of people who come in, consistent with safety protocols.”

Emphasising Google’s commitment to encourage employees to continue working from home, the company will also be giving each employee USD$1,000 to expense necessary equipment and office furniture.

Pichai also revealed that Google is looking to develop more overall flexibility in how they work in the long-term.

“Our campuses are designed to enable collaboration and community. In fact, some of our greatest innovations were the result of chance encounters in the office, and it’s clear this is something many of us don’t want to lose.

“At the same time, we are very familiar with distributed work as we have many offices around the world, and we are open-minded about the lessons we’ll learn through this period.”