Google tells employees it won’t follow Amazon’s strict RTO policy — as long as they stay productive

Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Google has no immediate plans to order employees back to the office five days a week, leaders told staff in a town-hall meeting last month, assuaging fears among workers that the company might follow Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate.

Amazon announced last month that staffers would be expected to return to the office five days a week, a shocking decision that caused a backlash among some workers. It also raised concern among employees at some of Amazon’s more hybrid-friendly rivals, including Google, where staffers are expected in the office just three days a week.

At Google’s most recent “TGIF” all-hands, remote work was top of mind for staffers. One of the most popular questions submitted was whether, in light of Amazon’s announcement, Google could reaffirm its commitment to hybrid work, according to two employees who watched the meeting.

John Casey, Google’s vice president of global compensation and benefits, told employees that although nothing was changing and the current system worked well, the company believed that being in the office at least three days a week was important, according to the two employees, who asked to remain anonymous because they’re not authorized to speak to the press but whose identities B-17 confirmed.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai added that it was important that staffers remained productive on days they work from home in order for the company to keep its policy flexible.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the comments made by Pichai and Casey but did not add further comment.

‘Google chases the industry’

Despite leaders’ comments, some employees still fear they will eventually be called back to the office full time. During the most recent all-hands, Pichai noted that some employees, such as some members of Google’s hardware teams, were back four days a week.

Google is a famously data-driven company, and any hints of a drop in productivity could be a reason to bring workers back in person.

Yet some research suggests hybrid is best. A study published in Nature in June concluded that hybrid work boosted job satisfaction and retention without jeopardizing productivity.

Still, some companies have started following Amazon’s lead. Dell just ordered its sales teams back into the office five days a week, telling employees in a memo that it believed they were “more productive” on-site. Microsoft recently told staffers that it, like Google, would remain hybrid but reconsider if productivity drops.

“People are concerned because Google chases the industry,” one Google employee said, adding that they felt the company’s leaders are “great at changing their minds.” Another said that the comments in the recent all-hands, while somewhat reassuring, didn’t preclude a change in policy down the road.

Google has in recent months become stricter in nudging employees who aren’t hitting the three-day average, according to an employee with direct knowledge of the changes.

The company has moved to hot-desking in some offices, and some locations have been piloting a type of hot-desking workspace — which Google calls “neighborhoods” — with moveable desks and modular meeting rooms.

Shortly after Amazon announced its RTO mandate, one employee shared a meme on Google’s internal meme generator editing a scene from “The Simpsons” to show the character Kirk Van Houten asking, “So you want me to sit at my desk five days a week?” and his boss responding, “I don’t recall saying you would get a desk.”