Ride the Lightning

Google: 200,000 Employees Will Not Return to Work until July 2021

July 29, 2020

The Washington Post (sub.req.) reported on July 27 that Google won't bring its 200,000 employees back to the office until July 2021. This is the first time I've seen a major corporation push their "return to work" date so far out. Parent company Alphabet has confirmed that decision.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai announced the new timetable in a companywide email to "give employees the ability to plan ahead." Pichai, who made the decision last week, said he was partly influenced by the differing approaches to schools reopening across the country. The work-from-home option applies to 200,000 full-time and contract employees attached to the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., as well as offices in other parts of the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

As we lecture in these uncertain times on the future of law practice given the impact of COVID-19, John and I were struck by a major corporation making this announcement so far in advance. Our guess is that other corporations may follow – and notably, for us, large law firms as well.

COVID-19 continues to spin out of control with no end currently in sight. Without a vaccine, and with the knowledge that work-from-home is not significantly impacting productivity, this seems like a good move to us. Consider also the liability that law firms and corporations might be subject to if they reopened and suffered an outbreak of the virus.

Many companies have said that they plan to reopen in January – but we suspect that Google's move will cause them to reevaluate their timeline.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225|Fairfax, VA 22030
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Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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