Google downsizes office, asks employees to share desks

The cloud employees and partners have been asked by Google to share their desks and decide alternate days when they and their desk mates will be in the office from next quarter, citing “real estate efficiency,” CNBC reported.

The new desk-sharing model will be applicable in the five largest US locations of Google Cloud, which are Kirkland, Washington; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California and is taking place so that the company “can continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” as per an internal FAQ recently shared with cloud employees. The document notes that a few buildings will be vacated as a result.

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“Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler,” stated the internal document, adding that the employees are expected to come to the office on alternate days so that they are not on the same desk on the same day. “Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment," the document read.

The FAQ adds that the employees may come to the office on other days, however, if they turn up on an unassigned day, the employees will use “overflow drop-in space".

Internally, the new leadership has given a title to the new seating arrangement “Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE", which refers to “combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility” of hybrid work. "The new workspace plan is not a temporary pilot. This will ultimately lead to more efficient use of our space,” the document said. The FAQ stated that the internal data was used by Google on its employee office return patterns to inform about the decision.

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“Since returning to the office, we’ve run pilots and conducted surveys with Cloud employees to explore different hybrid work models and help shape the best experience. Our data show Cloud Googlers value guaranteed in-person collaboration when they are in the office, as well as the option to work from home a few days each week. With this feedback, we’ve developed our new rotational model, combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility and focus we’ve all come to appreciate from remote work, while also allowing us to use our spaces more efficiently," said a Google spokesperson.

(With inputs from agencies)

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