The Google CEO says his company is “roughly planning on a three/two model” with employees given flexibility to work where they want for two days a week.
What is the most balanced work week?
According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, working three days a week in the office and two days remotely gives employees a good “balance” between time at home and time with their colleagues.
This “flexible work week” was initially announced by Google in December 2020.
According to Business Insider, Pichai said Google was “roughly planning on a three/two model,” with employees given flexibility to work where they want for two days a week.
“Three days in the office was important for collaboration and community,” Pichai said. “Two days remotely gave employees time off from the commute,” he said.
While talking to The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief Matt Murray at the paper’s Tech Live Conference on Monday, Pichai was asked whether the three days office, two days at home model would be a permanent change for the company.
“I think so,” he said. “Even in places like New York and San Francisco our employees dealt with long commutes and that was a real issue. And so I do think people get a better balance in a three/two model.”
According to Pichai, the company’s data demonstrates that the model can be made to work. “The company would ‘probably’ invest in real estate to make it easy for teams to get together,” he said.
Alphabet has postponed its complete office reopening until January 2022, and Pichai said that the company will let each local office make its own decisions about returning to work.
Pichai also added, “Between 20 percent and 30 percent of staff had voluntarily returned to the office already, he said — that rose to 50 percent in New York.”
Pichai announced in October that employees will need to get vaccinated before returning to work.