Some Google employees will be able to return to the office in April - Android

Googlers have been working from home since the early stages of the pandemic.

What you need to know

• Google this week shared more of its reopening plans with its employees after a year of work from home.
• Some offices in the U.S. will be able to reopen in April, with employees attending on a voluntary basis.
• Google will not be mandating vaccine adoption, though employees are advised to get it if possible.

Google this week shared its reopening plans to employees as the company prepares for a post-pandemic world. The company is planning a smaller scale return-to-office scheme. With large swathes of the U.S. being vaccinated against COVID-19, it's now hoping to see some employees return to the office in April.

In a memo seen by Axios, Fionna Cicconi, SVP and Google's chief people officer, said:

In the United States, the situation is also mixed and we must continue to stay vigilant to prevent a new wave of the virus. We are also seeing some hopeful improvements in parts of the country. I'm happy to say that over the next month, it is likely we'll begin to welcome Googlers back to some of our U.S. offices on a voluntary basis.

According to CNBC, Google's broader plans with regards to reopening offices remain the same. Employees will be able to return to work en masse in September as announced last December, but the company will not do away with remote work. Some employees will be able to participate in a hybrid work model, with three days in the office, and two days at home.

Google will not be adopting a permanent work-from-home model, and documents spotted by CNBC indicate that employees would need to apply if they wanted to work remotely for periods ranging from 14 days to a year at most. It is also likely that employees who choose to work remotely or have moved away from Google's more expensive locations may see a salary adjustment to reflect their lowered costs of living.