MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Google (GOOG) has further delayed employees' return to offices until January 2022, as COVID-19 cases continues to surge across the globe due to the Delta variant.
The search engine giant had initially planned for most of its employees to return to office by this October.
'For some locations, conditions are starting to improve, yet in many parts of the world the pandemic continues to create uncertainty,' Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a memo to employees. 'Acknowledging that, we'll extend our global voluntary return-to-office policy through January 10, 2022 to give more Googlers flexibility and choice as they ramp back.'
After January 10, Google said it will allow local offices to decide when to end work-from-home option and ask employees to return to office. Pichai also mention that going forward there will be no global policy. Google employees will be give a 30-day notice before asking to join the office.
'Finally, encouraging Googlers to rest and recharge during this time remains a big priority so we will plan two more global reset days next quarter: Oct 22 and Dec 17,' Pichai added.
Several other major tech companies including Facebook have delayed plans for employees to return to office. Several major corporations in the US have also made it mandatory for employees to be vaccinated and wear mask to make offices safer as the Delta variant wreaks havoc in the US and other countries.
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