Alphabet Inc.’s Google said on Monday that it will be extending its work from home policy till June 2021 for all the employees who need not necessarily be inside the office. This comes following the announcement in May by Google saying that it will reopen office globally by September this year. Later, after a discussion with its CEO Sundar Pichai, it was decided that they would not reopen the offices completely until June 2021.
“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,” wrote Google CEO Sundar Pichai in an email to employees as quoted by The Verge. “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,” Pichai wrote.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said nearly all of the 200,000 Google employees and contractors worldwide would see an extension of the option which had been set to end in January.
Google’s decision puts pressure on other tech firms, who had been planning to reopen later this year. Twitter has meanwhile given its employees the option to choose to work from home indefinitely.