Google Eases COVID Measures Ahead of Return to Office
Google is relaxing its COVID measures and bringing back in-office perks as it prepares to welcome employees back to the workplace.
As CNBC reports, in an email to San Francisco Bay Area employees, Google Real Estate and Workplace Services VP David Radcliffe announced relaxed rules around vaccines, testing, social distancing, and masks.
At the same time, amenities like fitness centers, massages, shuttle services, free meals, and access to informal work spaces—suspended during the pandemic—will resume. A company spokesperson also confirmed that Google will no longer require vaccinations as a condition of employment for US workers.
"We're at the beginning of a journey, so the office experience will feel pretty similar to what it was like pre-COVID," Radcliffe wrote in his email, "We're designing and piloting options to support new ways of working together and we'll gather insights, data, and feedback to help us learn as we go." In-person business meetings and events are also "ramping back up."
The move comes just two months after Google reportedly threatened to fire employees who didn't comply with the firm's COVID-19 vaccination policy—a mandate that was dropped last month, according to CNBC.
Like many major organizations, Google was forced to delay its return to mandatory in-office work several times in 2021 as new COVID variants emerged and the virus continued to spread. Now, provided there are no more surges or lockdowns, the company is preparing for most employees to return to the office for at least three days a week as part of a "hybrid" work model. There is still no hard date for a required return to HQ, though.
Unvaccinated employees must still follow protocols like testing and wearing a mask, and Google is
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