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Google managers ignore statistics on home working

by on16 July 2021


Staff have to be in the office, it does not matter if they are more efficient

It seems that Google managers are ignoring the statistics which suggest the company workers are far more productive working from home.

Employees are waiting to hear whether their remote work plans will be approved but a recent survey of staff showed that they were far more productive working from home than commuting to the office every day.

Internal research at the Alphabet unit also showed that employees want more "collaboration and social connections" at work, according to Brian Welle, a human resources vice president.

Welle declined to provide exact figures but said "more than 75 per cent" of surveyed employees answered this way.

Senior managers in many companies are worried that if employees don’t come to the office, people might question what they do and its importance to the company. After all many companies pay a lot of money for someone to chair long tiresome meetings with someone who spouts management jargon about moving cheese and kicking the ball running.

Welle pointed to one aspect of the study which showed staff specifically craved physical proximity when working on new projects.

 "There's something about innovative work -- when you need that spark," Welle said in an interview. "Our employees feel like those moments happen better when they're together."

That's partially why, despite the rebound in productivity, the technology giant is sticking with its plan to bring most employees back to offices this fall.

As Google deliberates which individual employees will get to continue working full time from home and who will need to come in, some staff are increasingly frustrated by the lack of clear direction and uneven enforcement of the policy.

Internal message boards lit up this month when a senior Google executive announced he was going to work from New Zealand. Meanwhile, most lower-level staff are waiting to learn if they can relocate, or have to come into the office.

Last modified on 16 July 2021
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