Google will once again attempt to bring its employees back to the office.
Corporate America’s carefully drafted, triumphant return-to-the-office plans have derailed numerous times over the past 6 months.
Covid variants — delta and then later omicron — both played spoil sport and kept workers scattered and some burnt out with coronavirus fatigue.
But Silicon Valley is powering through for its return to normalcy, following in the footsteps of its Wall Street counterparts like Goldman Sachs (GS) – Get Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Report, Citigroup (C) – Get Citigroup Inc. Report, and JPMorgan & Chase (JPM) – Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. Report.
Ironically, these are the same companies that will become creators of an immersive or embodied internet or the metaverse but will potentially achieve all their artificial intelligence, cloud computing and machine learning ambitions while physically sitting next to each other.
Tech giant Google (GOOGL) – Get Alphabet Inc. Class A Reporton Wednesday reportedly told staffers in its U.S. offices, including its Mountain View California-based headquarters, to return to the office next month, starting April 4.
To be sure, the changeover will take place in a phased manner and fully vaccinated employees will have to work from their office desks for two to three days a week, as reported by multiple news outlets.
“Our hybrid model balances the best of being together in person and being anywhere—where teams can intentionally come together to collaborate and connect in the office, and spend the other days working from wherever best suits their needs,” Google Vice President of Global Benefits John Casey told employees as reported by the Journal.
Face masks will no longer be mandatory for workers that are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Google parent Alphabet had earlier announced return-to-office plans that were scheduled to start Jan. 10. But those were rescinded due to a sharp rise in omicron led infections across the U.S.
Rival Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Microsoft Corporation Report set February 28 as its return-to-the-office date for employees at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle.
Last month, Citigroup asked vaccinated employees in all locations to start returning to the office from Wednesday, March 2.
Goldman Sachs staff came back to work from February 1.
