When Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared tips on how to balance work and home
At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, all offices across the world shifted to a work-from-home setup. Many employees had then realised the benefits of working from home and have since then maintained their stance. Even Google chief Sundar Pichai had once realised the importance of working from home and had shared the formula behind managing work and home life.
In a conversation with The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief in 2021, Pichai had said that people get a better work-life balance when they work three days from office and two days from home in a week.
“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,” he had said back then.
He had then elaborated how the company was “roughly planning on a three/two model.”
In sync with Pichai’s statement, Google had indeed made changes to its work from home policy in 2023. The company had asked employees to return to offices for at least three days a week, a move that had angered many employees who wished to work remotely forever.
Reports had surfaced that the company had asked remote workers who were located near a Google office to reconsider their work arrangement and transition to a hybrid schedule.
Details about a separate internal document also surfaced which said that remote workers who had already received work from home approval might undergo reassessment if significant changes occur in business needs, roles, teams, structures, or locations.
Fiona Cicconi, Google’s chief people officer, had also sent an email to employees talking about a reinforced commitment to in-office presence
Cicconi, in her email , highlighted the importance of hallway conversation in the office. “Of course, not everyone believes in ‘magical hallway conversations,’ but there’s no question that working together in the same room makes a positive difference,” she had said.
She also highlighted that a significant number of the products showcased at recent events like I/O and Google Marketing Live were the direct result of teams working in close proximity.
In addition to this, Cicconi had added that remote work will now be considered only in exceptional circumstances, effectively signalling a departure from the previous flexibility.
It was also reported that in some cases, Google would be including employee attendance in their performance reviews as well.
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