As the coronavirus crisis continues to plunge much of the world into economic ruin, companies are looking for innovative ways to continue operating as vaccine distribution is expected to take time. As such, Google has decided to defer operations and employ a staggered opening approach that will involve a whole lot of remote working.
Other technology companies in Silicon Valley are expected to follow a similar approach until at least September 2021, when it’s expected that the world will have the coronavirus crisis under some semblance of control.
Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai sent a widely distributed staff email stating that Google was planning on implementing a “flexible workweek” once employees are allowed to return to work. This new system would require employees to only come to work for two to three days a week to collaborate on tasks that they would otherwise not be able to complete on their own at home.
In the email, which was released to the public via the New York Times, Mr. Pichai stated that a hybrid workforce model is a completely novel idea, especially for a large-scale organization such as Google so it will be an interesting challenge to take on.
However, what was missing from Pichai’s email is whether or not Google employees will be required to take the coronavirus vaccine. There have been indications that Google will recommend or encourage its staff to get the vaccine which isn’t as strongly worded as making it a requirement.
Google will be making strides to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to its workers around late 2021. This is when experts estimate that all of the high-priority and high-risk individuals would have been taken care of.
Note that Google has branches all over the world and different countries are responding to the coronavirus crisis differently which will affect the company’s ability to implement their so-called “flexible workweek” across all of their labs and data centers.
In addition to the flexible workplaces, Google plans on changing the design of their offices in order to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus. This includes providing employees with the ability to book collaboration spaces in order to limit the number of people in one room at the same time while making sure that larger gatherings take place in ample outdoor spaces and reservable desks are available for “quiet time.”
Finally, Google plans to introduce innovative ways to help employees work more efficiently whether they’re doing so at home or at the office. This will surely come in handy for employees who are unable to effectively work from home due to the environment that they come from.
After all, not everyone lives in an area that has access to the fastest Internet connection, so it’ll be helpful to have in-office presentation booths and similar solutions that enable them to collaborate with others at work and to do their work proficiently.
