Google extends 'work from home' to September, CEO Sundar Pichai tells employees in email

In an emailed message to the employees on Sunday night, Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, indicated that the company is likely to choose a middle path between work from home and office after it is safe to come to the workplace.

The company will run a pilot plan, “flexible workweek”,  in which the staff would be expected to come to office for at least three days on “collaboration days” and work from home the other days.

Pichai said the company is testing if the arrangement would improve the productivity and well being of the employees.

“We are testing a hypothesis that a flexible work model will lead to greater productivity, collaboration, and well-being,” Pichai wrote in an email. “No company at our scale has ever created a fully hybrid work force model — though a few are starting to test it — so it will be interesting to try,” according to an email written by Pichai, obtained by The New York Times.

Google was one of the tech companies to adopt work from home as early as March to maintain social distancing in an effort to contain the spread of social distancing.

A CNBC report said that Google's hybrid work model would require the employees stay within commutable distance and a fully remote work option was not offered. While the option may not be given to some employees such as those who need specialised equipment to work.

Previously, Google had set July 2021 as the last month for its 20,0000 full-time and contract employees to work from home. In the latest email, this was extended to September 2021.