As many of you have probably heard, Google is implementing a new directive. Other remote workers have to come into the office three days a week in order to retain their jobs and prevent catching collateral damage from the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs. This decision does not reflect a company-wide policy. Rather than detailing an overarching strategy, it zooms in on the needs of each team, illustrating how strategies vary across different sectors of the organization.
This push for a phased return to in-person work only works for teams whose members all reside along Google bus routes. As of January, the firm adopted voluntary departure packages for U.S.-based full-time employees. This campaign primarily focused on employees within the Platforms and Devices group, which encompasses products such as Android, Chrome, Fitbit, and Nest. Meanwhile, Google continues to hire at breakneck pace, both at home and abroad. That’s a great sign of its commitment to high-growth, high-opportunity sectors.
As of late last year, Google had about 183,000 people—down from about 190,000 two years ago. Earlier this year, the company implemented sweeping layoffs. Since then, they have gone through all of their teams to make further targeted cuts as a part of this workforce reduction. Google has slashed roughly 24 teams so far—just this month.
One recent group to be hurt by the new return-to-office edict is Google’s Technical Services workforce. Second, they have been given precise messages. They will either have to adapt to a new hybrid office work environment or take a voluntary exit package. Workers in the Platforms and Devices org are allowed to continue working remotely—so long as they live over 50 miles away from any office. If they aspire for different positions in the firm, they need to change to a hybrid work pattern.
To assist with this transition, Google is offering remote employees in its Platforms and Devices group a one-time paid relocation expense to move within 50 miles of an office. This initiative aims to facilitate the return of employees to physical workspaces while ensuring they can remain with the company.
Sundar Pichai, Google and Alphabet Inc.’s CEO, has expressed that in-person collaboration is important to collaborating and innovating. He insists that it is crucial to addressing the most difficult problems at stake. Courtenay Mencini, a spokesperson for Google, echoed this sentiment, stating:
“As we’ve said before, in-person collaboration is an important part of how we innovate and solve complex problems.” – Courtenay Mencini
The effort to bring people back to older ways of work plays into Google’s gameplan. Indeed, this strategy is largely focused on increasing investment in artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, just last week, Sergey Brin highlighted how timely this new initiative is. He acknowledged that initiatives to “turbocharge” AI capabilities across Google have reached enormous velocity.
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