Google is facing another showdown, this time with its own engineers over whether to return to the office.
The search giant was one of the first to send employees home during the pandemic, and repeatedly pushed back the return-to-office date. Nonetheless, the company has made it clear it expects its employees to come back to the office, at least three days a week.
Google’s engineers are now pushing back, saying they’re just as productive working from home as they were in the office, according to Business Insider. In fact, while productivity did initially take a hit in 2020, when people first started working from home, an internal survey reports productivity has since rebounded, rivaling what it was when everyone worked in the office.
To make matters worse for Google, the company has already been drawing accusations of hypocrisy and favoritism over senior executive Urs Hölzle’s plans to move to New Zealand and work remotely full-time. While most Google employees have the option of applying for fully remote work, employees say the process is frustrating and drawn out, seemingly a stark contrast to Hölzle’s experience.
Google’s dilemma is just the latest example of employees pushing back over in-office policies. Apple is similarly facing pushback from its own employees.