Google’s Return to the Office Pushed Back As Covid-19 Cases Rise Again

It seems to be like Big Tech employees received’t be returning to a bodily workplace this 12 months in spite of everything. After exhaustively detailing the measures it might be taking to assist ease workers again into the workplace, Google is pushing again the official return date from Oct. 18 to Jan. 10, 2022.

Google will go away it as much as the respective workplaces and employees in every area to resolve whether or not to return to the workplace, as a result of there’s been a lot disparity in vaccinated populations and covid-19 instances round the globe. Google CEO Sundar Pichai instructed workers that these required again within the workplace would obtain no less than a 30-day discover. It’s much like the coverage Google had in place for the unique October re-opening, which was already fairly versatile. Google has already mentioned it might permit some employees to use for full distant work throughout the firm.

Google isn’t the one tech big pushing again the return to the bodily workplace. Apple pushed again its return date from October to January 2022, following complaints that it was asking workers to return too quickly. Facebook, Amazon, and Lyft have additionally introduced return-to-office begin dates in January 2022. Google and Facebook will require workers to be vaccinated earlier than returning to in-person work, whereas Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned the corporate would take into account whether or not necessary vaccinations have been “the right answer.”

Either approach, Silicon Valley solely is aware of as a lot as the remainder of us, which is that we’re nonetheless within the thick of a raging pandemic that’s prone to turn into endemic, with official forecasts predicting there are extra instances to come back. And until masks utilization and vaccines enhance exponentially within the subsequent few weeks, distant tech employees ought to most likely additionally count on one other delay to return to the workplace.