When Sundar calls your name, say “here!” — Google makes office attendance part of performance reviews Employees need to be in the office at least three days a week.

Ron Amadeo – Jun 8, 2023 9:51 pm UTC Enlarge / People walk out of a Google office building in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 29, 2021.Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto reader comments 195 with

Google is a company that was once famous for its whimsical, cushy office spaces. Even in the work-from-home era, Google would still really like its employees to use its offices. The latest news from The Wall Street Journal details how Google is pressuring employees to come back to the office, which includes making in-person office attendance part of employee performance reviews. Apparently, work done from home will not be viewed as favorably as work done from the office.

Further ReadingAfter demolishing swaths of San Jose, Google puts campus project on holdThe report quotes a staff-wide email from Google Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi justifying the move, saying, “Weve heard from Googlers that those who spend at least three days a week in the office feel more connected to other Googlers, and that this effect is magnified when teammates work from the same location. Of course, not everyone believes in magical hallway conversations, but theres no question that working together in the same room makes a positive difference.”

Google currently has a “hybrid work” policy where employees are expected to come into the office for at least three days of work a week. The report says employees that have “frequent absences” will start getting reminders about office attendance.

Some divisions of Google have tried to deal with their abandoned office space by scaling down and requiring employees to share desks. Google had also planned to build a “mega campus” in downtown San Jose, California, that would have added 7.3 million square feet to Google’s office space, but that project was recently put “on hold.” Google started demolition work for the project in 2021long after the work-from-home trend took over the worldonly to put things on hold this April. reader comments 195 with Ron Amadeo Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. He loves to tinker and always seems to be working on a new project. Advertisement Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Next story → Related Stories Today on Ars