Google plans to keep 200,000 full-time and contract employees working remotely until at least July 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported. Other tech companies have announced long-term plans to keep employees working from home due to restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic, but Google would be the first to extend remote work in the middle of next year.
According to the WSJSundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, made the call last week after a meeting with the company’s top executives.
Google had previously announced plans to reopen some offices for a limited number of employees starting July 6, but made returning to physical offices optional. Pichai made the decision to establish a more specific time frame for remote work, in part to give Google employees with families greater certainty about how long they would work from home, as many are struggling with inconsistent management of school districts, the WSJ reported.
Facebook, Twitter and Square have already announced plans to allow workers to continue working remotely indefinitely.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
