Google to pay additional staff bonus this year

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STAYING REMOTE: The company last week told its employees that it would not enforce a return-to-office scheme planned to take effect on Jan. 10

Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday that it would pay an additional bonus to its global employees this year, as the firm pushes back its return-to-office plan.

Google would give all employees, including the company’s extended workforce and interns, a one-time cash bonus of US$1,600 or equivalent value in their country this month, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

The latest benefit is in addition to Google’s work-from-home allowance and well-being bonus, to support its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson said, without giving details on how much the company has set aside in total for the purpose.

In March, an internal survey showed a drop in its employee well-being over the past year, after which Google announced a series of benefits, including a US$500 well-being cash bonus.

Last week, Google delayed its return-to-office plan indefinitely amid fears over the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and resistance from some employees to company-mandated COVID-19 vaccinations. It earlier expected staff to return to the office from Jan. 10 next year.

Separately, Lyft Inc said that employees can work remotely for the entirety of next year, a reversal of its previous mandate and one of the longest office-return delays among major companies.

The second-largest US ride-hailing operator revised an earlier requirement for workers to be back at their desks in February next year.

Many companies are changing their return dates yet again in response to the Omicron variant, but few have gone as far as Lyft’s full-year reprieve.

Google informed employees last week that it would not enforce its deadline and would reassess the situation after that.

Uber Technologies Inc, Lyft’s main rival, made a similar move.

Lyft’s offices would fully reopen in February as planned for employees who want to come in but returning would be optional for the whole year.

The new policy is meant to provide workers with flexibility, a Lyft spokeswoman said.

The change was not “exclusively tied” to Omicron, but the new strain was “a factor contributing to some uncertainty,” she said.

The San Francisco-based company does not plan to go fully remote indefinitely as others, including Twitter Inc, have done.

Lyft would “continue to talk with team members, use their insights and prioritize flexibility as we develop long-term plans for how we work,” the spokeswoman said.

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