In light of the pandemic, Google employees are working from home until 2021 to maintain social distancing guidelines. The search engine giant is mandating that many employees continue working remotely, though some essential workers will report to the office.
Google employees working from home through year’s end
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is extending the work-from-home mandate. Once set for June 1st, Google is now requiring most of its staff to remain at home through December 31st.
There are workers who need to be in the office. These workers will come back to the office in June or July. The remainder of the workforce will continue their current work routine via mobile devices.
Why is Google extending the remote working situation until 2021?
The reason behind Google’s decision to keep its stay-at-home mandate in place for most of its workforce pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, US President Donald Trump mandated the shutdown of the economy and the lockdown of the American public. Stay-at-home orders were put in place.
Citizens were given curfews in their respective counties. They were urged to stay at home as much as possible, going out only for necessities such as groceries. Citizens have been allowed to walk around in their yards but avoid large gatherings in public places.
Though gatherings of up to 50 people were allowed initially, the spread of the disease pushed President Trump to reduce gatherings from 50 to 10 or less.
Google sent its employees home, encouraging them to stay there until further notice. The search engine giant also alerted customers that its services, such as YouTube, for example, would require longer review times for video content considering the circumstances. This occurred after an employee in Google’s Zurich office, among others, contracted coronavirus.
How did it all begin?
The SARS-COV-2 virus originated in a live animal market in China and was kept secret for some weeks before being reported to the CDC. Chinese citizen Dr. Li Wenliang, an opthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, reported evidence of a possible outbreak to the national authorities.
He was told to recant his statement, but he took to forums to alert others about the disease. When China finally reported it to the CDC, the disease had begun to spread not only in China but also in other countries.
This, of course, includes the United States, as doctors, medical personnel, and businessmen travel across the world for business matters.
Since then, the disease has continued to spread. Currently, the United States has an infection count of over 1.28 million and a death toll of over 77,000. The global infection count stands at over 3.9 million and the global death count at over 270,000.