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Google Plans to crack down on employees who don’t come to its offices consistently, CNBC found.
The company updated its mixed-work policy on Wednesday and includes tracking office badge attendance, confronting workers who don’t come in when they’re supposed to and including attendance in employee performance reviews, according to internal memos seen by CNBC. Most employees are expected to be in physical offices at least three days a week.
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Fiona Ciccone, Google’s chief personnel officer, wrote an email to employees at the end of Wednesday that doubled up on office attendance, reasoning that “there is no substitute for meeting in person.”
“Of course, not everyone believes in ‘magic hallway conversations,'” Cicconi’s email states, “but there’s no doubt that working together in the same room makes a positive difference.” “Many of the products we unveiled at I/O and Google Marketing Live last month are designed, developed, and built by teams working in tandem.”
Her memo said the company would begin including its three-day week as part of its performance reviews and teams would begin sending out reminders to workers “who are constantly absent from the office.”
Cicconi even asked already approved remote workers to reconsider. “For those of you who are remote and live near a Google office, we hope you’ll consider switching to a hybrid work schedule. Our offices are where you’ll be most connected to the Google community.”
A separate internal document showed that already approved remote workers may be subject to re-evaluation if the company identifies “material changes in business need, role, team, structure, or location.”
In the United States, the company will periodically track whether employees adhere to the office attendance policy using badge data, and executives are currently reviewing local requirements for implementation in other countries, according to a document. If workers do not follow the policy after an extended period of time, HR will communicate about “next steps.”
Going forward, full new remote work will only be granted “with exception,” Ciccone said.
In a statement to CNBC, Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont said, “Our hybrid approach is designed to combine the best of being together in person with the benefits of working from home for part of the week. Now, over a year into this way of working, we’re officially integrating that approach.” in all of our workplace policies.”
Lamont added that badge data seen by company leaders is aggregate, not individual.
These policy updates represent the company’s most aggressive attempt to return employees to physical offices.
In 2021, after facing backlash for returning to offices, the company has softened plans for remote work and said it expects to allow 20% of employees to work remotely. However, most employees were expected to be in physical offices at least three days a week from April 2022, at which time the company attempted to woo workers by holding a special Lizzo party, hiring bands and bringing in city mayors to celebrate the proceeds. .
In April, CNBC reported that Google dropped requirements for a Covid vaccine to enter buildings.
The campaign comes as the company is in the middle of an artificial intelligence arms race, during which it has at times summoned all hands on deck to quickly position itself against rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI, whose success has grown in recent months. Google has also made more attempts in recent weeks to crack down on leaks from within the company.
However, the campaign also comes as the company shrinks its real estate footprint amid cost-cutting more broadly. In February, CNBC first reported that Google’s cloud unit told employees it would be moving to an office sharing workspace in its five largest locations. CNBC also reported that Google has paused construction on its massive campus in San Jose, California.
Correction: In February, CNBC first reported that Google’s cloud unit told employees it would move to an office sharing workspace in its five largest locations. An earlier version missed the month.
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