Facebook and Twitter have updated their policies by allowing remote working by their employees. Google is not going to commit to major changes to their workplace priorities but taking a more measured approach.
Pichai is not sure how productive various teams would be working together to brainstorm. He said they need to research, take surveys, study data, and then find what will work.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that some of their employees will be allowed to work from home on a permanent basis. He added that Facebook’s workforce would become remote over the next 5 to 10 years. Twitter also announced they have extended their policy to Dorsey’s other company with mobile payments from Square starting next week.
The ongoing discussions about remote working policies have led the largest tech companies to reevaluate their approach to business. This has all materialized since the coronavirus caused the shutdown of businesses across the world. Pichai previously told employees they would work remotely for the remainder of 2020. Just lately, workers will come in on a rotating basis with offices operating at a 20 to 30% capacity at the end of the year.
As of late, Google has been working on office expansions and additions to its sprawling headquarters in Mountain View, California. They are also investing in an enormous campus in San Jose and renovating a building in NYC. Pichai said remote working will have no impact on these projects.
The coronavirus lockdown has taken a huge toll on the company. Google’s advertising operations fell into a slump during the first quarter but still expects to beat their revenue expectations. That said, revenue did drop sharply in March while the coronavirus took hold. Google has warned that the second quarter will be hard. They have also slowed down hiring for the rest of the year and have slashed their marketing budget.
While they are moving forward moderately, they are still bringing in people. When asked about cuts and layoffs, they are looking for ways to make corrections in some areas to become more efficient by streamlining.