Google Extends Work-From-Home Into 2022 As COVID-19 Cases Rise

‘To make sure everyone has ample time to plan, you’ll have a 30-day heads-up before you’re expected back in the office,’ Google CEO Sundar Pichai says in a statement.

Google has extended its voluntary return-to-office policy through Jan. 10 of next year due to continued uncertainty with COVID-19, according to a company statement published Tuesday.

After that point, the Mountain View, Calif. company will allow locations to determine the end of voluntary work-from-home policies based on local conditions.

“To make sure everyone has ample time to plan, you’ll have a 30-day heads-up before you’re expected back in the office,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in the statement.

The company will also plan two “global reset days” on Oct. 22 and Dec. 17. So far, “tens of thousands of Googlers” have returned to their offices on a voluntary basis, Pichai said.

[RELATED: Google Mandates COVID-19 Vaccinations For Returning Workers, Delays Return-To-Office Plan]

“The road ahead may be a little longer and bumpier than we hoped, yet I remain optimistic that we will get through it together. It’s heartening to see Googlers starting to come back to more offices globally,” Pichai said. “The ability to reconnect in person has been re-energizing for many of us, and will make us even more effective in the weeks and months ahead.”

Tony Safoian, CEO of Los Angeles-based Google partner SADA Systems — a member of CRN’s 2021 Managed Service Provider 500 — told CRN that his company is still mostly remote with some exceptions.

“We appreciate when Google and other companies take a stance on ‘back to office,’” Safoian said. “It helps us provide internal guidance for our teams as well — we tend to track with Google’s targets.”

In May, Google announced that some 60 percent of Googlers will spend a few days per week in the office, 20 percent will work in new office locations and another 20 percent will work from home under a future hybrid work model.

In July, the tech giant announced that Google will start requiring vaccines for employees who want to work on its campuses — starting with those in the United States — with some allowable exceptions.