Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google, says he does not see the future of work being 100 per cent remote. Getty
Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google, says he does not see the future of work being 100 per cent remote. Getty
Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google, says he does not see the future of work being 100 per cent remote. Getty
Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google, says he does not see the future of work being 100 per cent remote. Getty

Google mulls hybrid model as 62% of employees do not want to permanently work from office


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
  • Arabic

Google is working on a “hybrid” work model after an internal survey showed a majority of its employees do not want to return to the office full-time.

More than six in 10 employees said they want to return to the office at some point but not everyday.

"We value our offices, we value the culture … but we do think that we need to create more flexibility and more hybrid models," chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a video interview with Time magazine.

Only 8 per cent of Google’s employees said they want to come to the office everyday, while 10 per cent want to work from home permanently, the company said.

Face-to-face meetings and socialising with other team members were some of the reasons given by employees who opted to work from office.

“I see the future definitely being more flexible [but] we don’t think that future will be 100 per cent remote,” said Mr Pichai.

“We firmly believe that in-person, being together and having a sense of community [are] super important, whenever you have to solve hard problems and create something new … we don’t see that changing,” he added.

Alphabet-owned Google, which earlier said its employees can work from home till January 2021 to stem the spread of Covid-19 virus, later extended it to June 30 next year.

“Google was one of the first companies to have the view that workplace could be fun. We have the same philosophy but now we are thinking in context of the Covid-19,” said Mr Pichai.

“When it started, I realised this is going to be a period of tremendous uncertainties ... so we wanted to lean in and give certainty wherever we could. We made decision to work from home [as] we realised that people are trying hard to plan and it is affecting productivity,” he added.

In May, the company said it will reopen most of its global offices on July 6 for employees who are keen to return to the workplace. But it was postponed due to a recent surge in the number of coronavirus cases.

Google is currently investing heavily in expanding its offices in San Jose, New York and at the company’s sprawling headquarters in Mountain View.

Workers wear hazmat suits during construction of a building at the Google campus in Mountain View. Bloomberg
Workers wear hazmat suits during construction of a building at the Google campus in Mountain View. Bloomberg

Mr Pichai said the new emphasis on remote working will not affect those ongoing projects.

Global tech companies are considering a staggered return to work in an effort to resume office operations safely in the absence of a vaccine.

Facebook and Twitter have already given their employees an option to work from home permanently. Apple, however, is bringing staff back to its stores in different phases after it shut down its retail operations amid the outbreak.

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80

Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km

The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

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The flights

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The tour

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The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

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OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE

1. Liverpool 101 points

2. Manchester City 80 

3. Leicester 67

4. Chelsea 63

5. Manchester United 61

6. Tottenham 58

7. Wolves 56

8. Arsenal 56

9. Sheffield United 55

10. Everton 50

11. Burnley 49

12. Crystal Palace 49

13. Newcastle 46

14. Southampton 44

15. West Ham 39

16. Brighton 37

17. Watford 36

18. Bournemouth 36

19. Aston Villa 32

20. Norwich City 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

THE BIO

Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old

Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai

Favourite Book: The Alchemist

Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna

Favourite cuisine: Italian food

Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman