In recent months, Google, led by CEO Sundar Pichai, has been making drastic changes to the workplace while investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence, following in the footsteps of its tech competitors.
Some of these changes include layoffs, as Google aims to remove organizational layers and “operate more efficiently.”
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In February, Google laid off an unknown number of human resources and cloud employees.
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In April, it laid off hundreds of employees in its platforms and devices unit, responsible for developing Android, Pixel, Chrome, Fitbit and other products.
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Google even laid off 35% of its managers in August, affecting those who led smaller teams.
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The following month, it laid off more than 200 contract workers who worked on developing Google’s artificial intelligence products.
In addition to the layoffs, Google recently began cracking down on remote work in its company culture. Earlier this year, he allegedly sent memos to several teams warning remote employees that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t show up to the office three days a week.
Now, Google is redoubling its efforts to limit remote work. This time, it has decided to add restrictions to its “Work from Anywhere” policy, which was implemented in 2020 and allows employees to work from anywhere outside the office (except from home or anywhere nearby) four weeks per calendar year, according to a recent CNBC report.
Google changed the policy to indicate that working remotely for one day counts as a full week.
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“Whether you log 1 WFA (work from anywhere) day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your weekly WFA balance,” reads an internal document outlining the new rule.
During an internal meeting discussing the change, John Casey, Google’s vice president of performance and rewards, said WFA was “meant to meet Google employees where they were during the pandemic.”
“The policy was always intended to be adopted in one-week increments and not to be used as a substitute for working from home in a normal hybrid workweek,” Casey said.
The policy was always intended to be adopted in one-week increments and not used as a substitute for working from home in a normal hybrid workweek.
Additionally, the document, which was sent to employees over the summer, also informs workers that during their days at WFA, they are not allowed to work from a Google office in a separate state or country due to the “legal and financial implications of cross-border work.”