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.
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.
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Date of birth: 27 May, 1995
Place of birth: Dubai, UAE
Status: Single
School: Al Ittihad private school in Al Mamzar
University: University of Sharjah
Degree: Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Hobby: I enjoy travelling a lot, not just for fun, but I like to cross things off my bucket list and the map and do something there like a 'green project'.
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants