Google is threatening to lose its employees if they force them to return to their offices

Google was one of the first large companies to move its employees from its offices in the early days of the epidemic, but is now calling back employees. Some of them say they don’t want to come back.

At a time when technology companies such as Microsoft and Twitter were announcing that they would allow employees to work permanently from home, Google opposed the change to work entirely remotely, and employees say frustration was growing among a section of employees.

As Chris Bradfoot, a programmer at Google, wrote on Thursday, that frustration spread on social media last week, “I talked to some colleagues at Google and they said they would leave if they were pushed back into office in September.”

Many employees joined the conversation to share their opinion, and some said they could look for another job if Google forced them to return to their offices.

Six current Google employees – who spoke with Insider – shared the same sentiment and said they knew their colleagues who had taken action to work remotely permanently during epidemics. They did not mention their names because they did not have the authority to speak to the press.

“Many of my co-workers have gone without any real intention of coming back,” said one of those employees. “Most of them were in their 30s and 40s.”

Another said that at least two employees in their group have made permanent their lifestyle during epidemics and expect not to return to office even if asked to do so.

Mixed model

Google employees are expected to return to their offices by September 2021, but last December the company said it was trying a new flexible arrangement where employees are expected to work outside the office 3 days a week.

The company has provided some specific details of the New Testament, and employees are pressuring officials for answers. Google has never said it will offer full-time work to anyone who wants it, but since it has pushed back the deadline for returning to offices, some employees have made arrangements to continue working long-distance, eventually allowing employees to work from home that other companies follow. Permanently. Facebook announced last year that it would start allowing employees to work remotely.

“There are already employees leaving because they don’t want to wait until September and they want to continue their careers,” one employee said.

A Google spokesman said the company would continue to test remote work, but that did not change the current policy.

Alphabet plans to spend $ 7 billion on offices and data centers by 2021 (Reuters)

Many Google employees want to return to the office if company polls are to be trusted. In an internal survey last year, 62% of Google employees said they would like to return, although only 8% said they would like to do so full time.

Over the past few months, CEO Sunder Pichai has given other hints that Google is considering a flexible deadline when employees return. Since then, questions have been asked about leadership ideas about how to operate remotely.

At a session last October, Pichai said he saw most of Google’s employee roles still linked to one office, but said the company planned to expand the number of “central” offices to give employees more flexibility in how they operate.

Since then, employees have pressed the front to clarify how flexible Google wants to be and whether the 3-day office rule applies equally across the company, but say they have not received responses.

During the company’s first-quarter earnings announcement this week, CEO Ruth Borat said Alphabet intends to spend $ 7 billion on offices and data centers by 2021.

“We value bringing people together in the office. We see a mixed model of working from home and office,” he told an analyst.

Google may lose its employees

While some wait for answers on how they will be, some employees take the initiative and walk away from their desks, while others see no need to go to the office up to 3 days a week.

Justin Bigworth, Google’s director of engineering, tweeted, “I have no intention of returning to Seattle every day. I can go from meeting to meeting via video calls.” “Currently I manage 8 people Cities are divided into 5 time zones. Why should I be in the office? “

But forcing employees to return means that they have more flexible arrangements for competitors, because 3 Google employees have noticed an increase in letters from selectors at other companies confirming their telecommunications policies to Insider.

“I think forcing everyone to come back in September will filter out their talent,” said one of those employees.

Another person interested in moving his family said, “If I don’t have a way to work remotely at Google next spring, I’ll look elsewhere.”

Currently, Google allows employees to return voluntarily as offices reopen, although employees must first pass a health survey and agree to follow the new health guidelines. For those who don’t want to come back yet, they still have that option.

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