As coronavirus cases began to dwindle and mask mandates, a large Silicon Valley technology company set a date for employees to return to the office.
Google told its employees on Wednesday that the period of voluntary work from home, which was in force two years ago, will end on April 4, a company spokesman told SFGATE.
Employees in the San Francisco Bay Area and some of its other offices in the United States, Britain and the Asia-Pacific region will have to come to work in person three times a week. Employees can have two days of remote work.
“We plan to use the month of March to help employees move to their new routine activities and then strive to be fully functional in our hybrid work approach by April 4,” Google said.
Employees who enter physical workspaces need to be vaccinated, “because that’s one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running,” Google said.
Non-vaccinated staff with approved accommodation will need to follow specific protocols, including regular testing and wearing a mask.
The company said last year that it would introduce a hybrid model when it asked employees to return in person.
“I think people get a better balance in model three / two,” CEO Sundar Pichai told The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference in October, Business Insider reported.
An email to officials in the San Francisco Bay Area said that “progress in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in the cases we continue to monitor, and the improved safety measures we have implemented … now mean that we can officially start the transition to the hybrid working week, “Reuters reported.
An email from John Casey, Google’s vice president of global benefits, says facilities such as cafes, restaurants, massages and shuttles are reopening at Google’s offices.
Google was one of the first technology companies to send employees home, and a two-year period of remote work has led many people to relocate. More than 14,000 Google employees have relocated or been completely removed during the pandemic, with 85% of applications approved, a company spokesman said.
In recent months, Salesforce has announced it will lure Zoom employees back to face-to-face meetings at a new new campus in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Ranch Trailblazer in the Scotts Valley opens in March for adaptation, training, skills building, talent development and generally for personal connection with colleagues.
SF-based Twitter said their home work policies will continue indefinitely.