Google will let all its staff work 2 days from home as part of a 'flexible work week' starting September 2021, Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees
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- Google is delaying sending employees back to the office until September 2021, pushing back its previous return date by three months.
- It will also experiment with a "flexible work week" once employees return, CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to staff.
- This means employees will work a minimum three days per week in the office, and work from home the rest of the time.
- "We are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being," Pichai said.
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Google told employees in an email on Sunday night that they won't be back in the office until September 2021 - and even then they probably won't be in every day.
The New York Times reported that CEO Sundar Pichai told employees the tech giant will be experimenting with a "flexible work week" once employees return to the office in September, three months later than previously planned. In July of this year, Google told employees it would extend its work-from-home policy until June 2021.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the details of the Times' report to Business Insider.
According to the email obtained by the Times, employees will be asked to come into the office at least three days a week for so-called "collaboration days," and work from home the rest of the time.
"We are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being," Pichai said.
"No company at our scale has ever created a fully hybrid work force model - though a few are starting to test it - so it will be interesting to try," he added.
This isn't the first time Pichai has mentioned flexible work and hybrid models.
In audio from a company all-hands meeting leaked to Business Insider in October, Pichai told employees the company was looking to expand the number of office "hubs" it has as well as exploring how that might work with "hybrid-flexible work."
Microsoft is among the big US tech companies testing out a hybrid work model. In an October company memo obtained by the Verge, Microsoft said employees would be allowed to work from home for less than half of their work week, and will even have the option to work from home permanently if their managers approve it.
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