Google said it would extend its work-from – home order to June 2021 amidst corona-virus pandemic on Monday.
“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,” Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, told staff in an email. Initially, Google, an alphabet company, had suggested it would be expected to return to office in January 2021.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the move would affect “nearly all” of the 200,000 employees of Google, including contractors and full time staff.
Many technology firms have confirmed that the majority of workers will work or have not finalized a schedule from home until the end of 2020. In January, Amazon and Apple called for staff to return. Twitter has offered workers “forever” the opportunity to work from home.
Unlike Google, Facebook takes a longer-term view to how and when people go back to work. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in May that Facebook will encourage many of its 50.000 workers to start working permanently from home. Zuckerberg said he expects Facebook staff to work remotely for 50% over the next 5-10 years.
By Monday, according to the information gathered by John Hopkins University the United States had over 4.2 million cases of coronavirus, with at least 146.900 deaths.