Google workers in London will begin gradually returning to work from July as companies in the capital prepare their offices for major changes to workplaces after lockdown.
In an email to staff, Google boos Sundar Pichai said a staff will start to return on a ‘limited, rotating basis,’ from July 6, which could see staff working in the office once every two weeks, with offices reaching 10% of their potential occupancy.
The tech giant, along with major companies including Twitter and Facebook, has began urging staff to work from home in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread worldwide.
Google’s offices in Kings Cross, London, will remain mostly empty throughout 2020, with staff only being required to come in once every couple of weeks
While some companies prepare for life after lockdown, Twitter has told its workers staff will have the ultimate choice on whether they wish to return to the workplace.
Google previously stated most of its workers would remain at home until the end of the year, but as lockdown measures ease, the company is hoping to get people back into the office.
Mr Pichai said that should the initial openings be successful, Google will look to increase office occupancy to 30% in September, but added that the majority of staff will be encouraged to continue working from home.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai told expects office capacity to reach 30% by the end of the year, but staff may only need to visit the office once every two weeks
‘There are a limited number of Googlers whose roles are needed back in office this calendar year,” he said.
‘If this applies to you, your manager will let you know by June 10. For everyone else, returning to the office will be voluntary through the end of the year, and we encourage you to continue to work from home if you can.’
The company also confirmed it will give each employee an allowance of 1,000 US dollars or the equivalent value in their country of work to expense necessary equipment and office furniture.
Mr Pichai also said the technology giant was looking into how to ‘develop more overall flexibility’ in the way staff work and allowing more remote working in the future.
Facebook’s headquarters at Rathbone Place, central London. Mark Zuckerberg says up to half of the social media giant’s workforce could be based at home within 10 years time
Last week Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the social network would start ‘aggressively opening up remote hiring,’ predicting half of its workforce could be based from home in the next five to 10 years.
In an interview with The Verge, Mr Zuckerberg said: ‘We’re going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale.
‘We need to do this in a way that’s thoughtful and responsible, so we’re going to do this in a measured way. But I think that it’s possible that over the next five to 10 years – maybe closer to 10 than five, but somewhere in that range – I think we could get to about half of the company working remotely permanently.’
On May 12 Twitter, which has an office in Soho, said: ‘Opening offices will be our decision, when and if our employees come back, will be theirs.
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
Will the City of London EVER go back to the office? Major… UK’s contact tracing scheme will only cut infections by 5%…
Share this article
Share
‘With very few exceptions, offices won’t open before September. When we do decide to open offices, it also won’t be a snap back to the way it was before. It will be careful, intentional, office by office and gradual.’
Amazon said earlier this month its remote workers would continue to operate at home until ‘at least October 2.’
A spokesman from the online retail giant said: ‘We are working hard and investing significant funds to keep those who choose to come to the office safe through physical distancing, deep cleaning, temperature checks, and the availability of face coverings and hand sanitizer.’
Baker McKenzie in London is considering splitting staff into groups so workers do not sit face to face when they return to work
Law firms are bulk-buying face masks to prepare for solicitors and other staff to return to the office later this year.
In Holborn, Hogan Lovells is putting together Covid-19 packs that will include face masks, hand sanitiser and desk wipes, the FT revealed this week.
Rota systems may be put in place to staff the amount of workers in the office at any given time.
Baker McKenzie, near Blackfriars, is considering splitting staff into groups. Partner Joanna Ludlam told the FT: ‘We will be [reorganising] some rooms to make sure people aren’t sitting face to face because there’s a body of scientific evidence to show it’s harder to spread if you are back to back or side to side.’
Banks in London’s financial district are still focusing on staff working remotely, HSBC, headquartered in Canary Wharf, East London, said it would wait for government guidance before asking employees to return to the office
Large banks appear happy to continue with remote working, waiting for official government guidance until they make a change in policy.
Last week Credit Suisse who are based in Canary Wharf, said approximately 90 per cent of the 5,500 staff based at their HQ were currently working from home.
The global firm said they have drawn up ‘cautious plans’ for a ‘phased return to offices over time’.
But they said that they ‘envisage that large numbers of employees will continue to work remotely in the short-to-medium term.’
Deutsche Bank, HSBC, RBS are taking a similar approach.
Barclays’ CEO Jes Staley, said his bank was reviewing how much office it space it needed as most of its staff were now working ‘from their kitchens’
RBS, who are based in, Canary Wharf said: ‘The health and safety of our colleagues, customers and communities is our main priority
‘The vast majority of our staff continue to work from home – with more than 50,000 colleagues remotely logging on every day.
‘We continue to monitor the situation and will update our staff when we have further clarity on future working arrangements.’
Barclays boss Jes Staley told the BBC last month big, expensive city offices could be a ‘thing of the past’.
The banking giant has around 70,000 staff working from home worldwide due to lockdown measures.
Mr Staley said the change was causing Barclays to evalutate it’s long term ‘location strategy,’ as it was now being run by staff working ‘from their kitchens’.
Read more:
Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote – The Verge
Subscribe to read | Financial Times
If you cherished this article and you would like to get more info about volatilidade Gases; https://Www.tvelektronik.Net, i implore you to visit the web site.
