Google to move to 'hybrid' work week, says CEO Sundar Pichai

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will offer more location choices where staff can apply to move to another Google location (Image: Reuters)

Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said the internet giant will move to a "hybrid" work week as COVID-induced lockdown restrictions ease in some locations.

Most employees of the California-based company will work three days a week from office, and two days from "wherever they work best", the Google CEO said.

"We'll move to a hybrid work week where most Googlers spend approximately three days in the office and two days wherever they work best," Pichai said in an email to the staff.

He added: "Since in-office time will be focused on collaboration, your product areas and functions will help decide which days teams will come together in the office. There will also be roles that may need to be on site more than three days a week due to the nature of the work."

The email was shared by Google in a blog post, and also tweeted by Pichai.

The future of work at Google is flexibility. The majority of our employees still want to be on campus some of the time yet many would also enjoy the flexibility of working from home a couple days a week…

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— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) May 6, 2021

In locations where Google offices have been reopened in a "voluntary capacity", 60 percent of employees have returned to office.

Google said the company will offer more location choices where staff can apply to move to another Google location. It will also offer its employees the option to work remotely completely, based on their role and team needs.

"Taken together these changes will result in a workforce where around 60 percent of Googlers are coming together in the office a few days a week, another 20 percent are working in new office locations, and 20 percent are working from home," Pichai said.

Employees of Google will also now have the option to work from a location apart from their main office for up to four weeks a year.