Google Teams Working Remotely

Several companies have announced that their employees would work virtually in the
wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. Initially, Google indicated that the company employees
would return to its San Francisco Bay Area base on July 6, 2020. However, considering the
current strain on the health sector and the increasing new infections of coronavirus, Google
recently announced that it extended its employee work-from-home policy until at least the
summer of 2021. According to announcements made in the Wall Street Journal in mid-July, the
leading tech firms confirmed that they committed the given timeline in the wake of the pandemic
(Kari, 2020). Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of the parent company, Alphabet Inc.,
decided in the preceding week after debates with his internal group of top executives
(Kari, 2020). Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, which escalated in early March, most tech
company employees have been working remotely.
The announcement by many tech companies, including Google, to work remotely marks
the beginning of a shift from the intense focus during the tech boom of the last decade where
tech companies heavily invested in lavish work campuses and in-office perks. For instance, the
Google headquarters in Mountain View covers an area of about 12 acres and has several
features, including gourmet food halls, volleyball courts, and pools. According to the article, in
recent years, the role of commuting and tech headquarters have significantly reshaped the San
Francisco Bay Area base to change fundamentally (Kari, 2020). In a study cited in this article, a
survey conducted on thousands of tech employees indicated that two-thirds of employees in the
Bay Area base would take the opportunity to work remotely if they had the chance to move
away (Kari, 2020). The article added that working remotely would also push down the rent

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prices that have been steadily rising over the years since people would live away from the San
Francisco Bay area.
Other research findings indicate that working remotely would continue long after the
coronavirus pandemic that spawned it. According to a Stanford research, working remotely
presents a ticking time bomb for the erosion of city centers, including city centers where
Google employees used to live (Wong, 2020). A Stanford Professor of Economics at the School
of Humanities and Sciences indicates that since the outbreak, his 2014 research on working
from home has been in high demand from policymakers in a bid to understand the shifting
dynamics of the workforce (Wong, 2020). In the previous year, before the outbreak of
coronavirus, Google conducted a 2-year research on what makes a great remote team. The
research findings indicated that there was no significant difference in performance ratings,
effectiveness, or promotions for individuals and teams that required collaboration with Google
employees that work with their colleagues in the same office (Ludema, & Johnson, 2019).
Additionally, the research found that working remotely gives employees time to prioritize a
stable work-life balance than working in physical offices with many employees. Based on these
research findings and other leading studies on working remotely as teams, coupled with the
experience from the initial period of the outbreak from March to June, Google concluded that
virtual teams have been functional and should continue.

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References:
Ludema, J., & Johnson, A. (May 9, 2019). What Google Has Learned About Remote Work: Six
Tips. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/amberjohnson-
jimludema/2019/05/09/what-google-has-learned-about-remote-work-six-
tips/?sh=42e3ac7946d1
Kari, P., (July 27, 2020). Google employees will work from home until at least summer 2021.
The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/27/google-employees-work-from-
home-coronavirus-
pandemic#:~:text=Google%20employees%20will%20work%20from%20home%20until
%20at%20least%20summer%202021,-
This%20article%20is&text=Google%20will%20keep%20its%20employees,wake%20of
%20the%20coronavirus%20pandemic.
Wong, M. (June 29, 2020). Stanford research provides a snapshot of a new working-from-home
economy. Stanford News. Retrieved from
https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/29/snapshot-new-working-home-economy/