Google Delays Return to Office for Employees in the US AGAIN—Omicron COVID-19 Variant to Blame?

Google delayed the return to the office of its employees in the United States once again, noting that the initial plan to adopt the hybrid working model on Jan. 10 has been postponed.

Google Delays Return to Office for Employees

As per the report by CNBC, Google sent an internal email to its employees to announce that they would no longer be required to return to the offices of the tech giant by Jan. 10.

On top of that, the vice president for the security of the search engine giant, Chris Rachow, further said in the memo that Google will still assess the situation after the new year before announcing a new return to office schedule.

The Google exec further noted that they will wait until next year to assess if the workforce of the tech giant could already return to both a "long-term" and "stable" working environment.

The internal email also went on to clarify that Google will no longer be pushing through with its hybrid working requirement on Jan. 10.

Google Employees' Return to Office

It is worth noting that the plans of Google to adopt a hybrid working system, which requires its employees to report for work at least three times a week, has previously faced several delays.

The new work mandate of Google has repeatedly been pushed off by the raging threat of the novel coronavirus.

Back on Aug. 31, Google delayed the return of its employees in its office in the US to Jan. 10. It came as the then-new COVID-19 variant Delta was starting to spread in the country.

Now, with another COVID-19 variant emerging, known as the Omicron, Google is postponing its new working mandate once again.

But it is to note that Google did not mention the latest COVID variant as the reason behind the further delay for the return to office in the US.

However, according to the news story by Business Insider, Google attributed the delay of the return to office in locations like Africa, Europe, and the Middle East to the emerging variant of concern.

Google Opens US Offices

Meanwhile, Google also told CNBC in the same report that the tech giant has already opened its doors for its employees for over 90% of its offices in the US.

On top of that, the search engine firm went on to claim that about 40% of its total workforce already reported for work in their US offices.

Elsewhere, last Nov. 24, employees of the US-based tech giant boldly opposed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Google previously requested for the vaccination status of its more than 150,000 employees, noting that even if they are working from home, they still need to get the COVID-19 jab.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris