03-01-2023
Google Cloud’s five largest U.S. locations – Kirkland, Washington; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California – plan to implement an employee desk-sharing policy next quarter. The Cloud unit reflects about a quarter of Google's full-time workforce. In the company's internal FAQ (as reported by CNBC), the desk-sharing policy allows Google to focus on growth and enables Google to vacate some of its buildings. For Google Cloud, this policy is also a rollback of its expectation that employees will return to the office more. Google says employees have returned to the office slower than anticipated, and the company has laid off 11,000 employees.
Per CNBC, the FAQ explained, "Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler. Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment." Google expects employees to come in on alternate days. Employees may come in on other days, but they should expect to use an "overflow drop-in space." The company will form teams of 200-300 employees organized into "neighborhoods." The new program, "Cloud Office Evolution," provides the best of "pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility" of hybrid work. Google believes the new rotational models allow for a more efficient use of its office space. Although not noted in its FAQ, CNBC points out that Google is downsizing its real estate footprint as part of its larger cost-cutting. SFGate reported the company is ending leases for "a number of unoccupied spaces" near its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area.