Google to allow 200,000 of its employees to work from home until next summer

Google, the world’s biggest internet company, is to allow 200,000 of its employees to work from home until this time next year, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal website. 

Although Google officially has just over 100,000 full-time employees, the company’s decision will affect its freelance workers, part-timers and contract staff.

The directive comes amid the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with the US seeing an upsurge in cases in recent weeks, after becoming the nation with the world’s highest number of deaths caused by the Covid-19 virus.

The decision is reported by the WSJ to have been made by Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, parent company of Google.

Pichai is said to have arrived at his decision during a meeting with an internal group of top executives that he chairs.

WSJ says the move makes Google “the first major US corporation to formalize such an extended timetable in the face of the coronavirus pandemic”.

AS quoted by WSJ, Pichai wrote a note to staff, saying: “I know it hasn’t been easy. I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months.”

Main picture: Googleplex Campus, Google’s corporate headquarters, located in Mountain View, California