Google has joined Apple in pushing back its return to the office date, and confirmed it will require onsite employees to be vaccinated.
Apple became the first major company to push back its plans to return to the office amid surging COVID cases, thanks to the Delta variant. Google has now joined its Cupertino rival, pushing back its return to the office date to mid-October. Like Apple, Google had originally been shooting for September.
CEO Sundar Pichai informed employees in an email, according to the Boston Globe.
“This extension will allow us time to ramp back into work while providing flexibility for those who need it,” Pichai wrote.
Pichai also revealed the company will require employees to be vaccinated, once its facilities are reopened and employees are working onsite. Pichai said the vaccine mandate would follow local laws, and be flexible to account for medical and other “protected” reasons for not being vaccinated.
Nonetheless, Google’s vaccination stand is one of the strongest yet from a large company.