Google extends its voluntary 'return to office' policy until January 2022

Hey, Google. Remind me to go back to the office in January

What you need to know

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that it has extended its current in-office policy until January 10, 2022.
• This is due to the rising cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
• Employees are also being given two "global reset days" in the upcoming quarter.

In a blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed its plans for employees to return to its offices. Pichai shared that staff won't be required to return until January 10, 2022, as the Delta variant of COVID-19 is forcing other companies to hit pause on resuming work-life as normal.

First, as offices continue to reopen, we hope to see more teams coming together where possible, whether it be for regular team meetings, brainstorming sessions around a whiteboard, or outdoor socials. For some locations, conditions are starting to improve, yet in many parts of the world the pandemic continues to create uncertainty. Acknowledging that, we'll extend our global voluntary return-to-office policy through January 10, 2022 to give more Googlers flexibility and choice as they ramp back.

Currently, Google employees are allowed to go to offices on a voluntary basis, but otherwise are able to work from home at their discretion. A little over a month ago, Google began requiring vaccinations for those employees who wanted to return to the office, while extending the current work-from-home policy into October.

Pichai also shared that the company will provide a "30-day heads-up" before employees would be expected to return to the offices. This is a nice touch as it gives employees ample time to take care of family needs at home before returning to some type of normalcy when it comes to work.

Finally, Google will be having two "global reset days" in the next quarter, coming on October 22 and December 17. These are both Fridays, so essentially these are two three-day weekends being provided by Google in an effort to help its employees take a break and "reset".

Of course this does not just apply to one division within Google or another. But we know that its hardware division is going to be quite occupied in the coming months with the impending launch of the Google Pixel 6 lineup of devices. But seeing Google being so upfront about the health and wellbeing of its employees given that the world has not yet returned to normal, is a refreshing sight to see.

by Andrew Myrick