The era of endless workplace flexibility at Google is over.
The company is tightening its once-popular “Work From Anywhere” policy that let employees work remotely for up to four weeks a year. Now, one work-from-home (WFA) day will be counted as a full week by the company, according to an internal document obtained by CNBC.
“Whether you log 1 WFA day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance,” according to the document that was circulated over the summer, just before the change went into effect.
WFA differs from Google’s hybrid work schedule
The change is separate from Google’s regular hybrid schedule, which was also implemented during the pandemic and gives employees the ability to work from home two days a week. The leaked internal document states that under the WFA policy, employees can work remotely, but not “from home or nearby.”
Remote employees in some Google divisions were warned in April that they could lose their jobs if they didn’t comply with hybrid schedules requiring them to work in the office three days a week.
The updated WFA policy further prohibits employees from working in a Google office in a separate state or country during their WFA time due to “legal and financial implications of cross-border work,” according to the internal memo.
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Other companies tighten the screws on working remotely
With COVID now in the rear-view mirror, other tech companies are increasingly requiring employees to be in the office more frequently.
- Last month, Microsoft informed employees that they must work in the office for three days a week starting next year, reversing its policy that allowed most to work from home half of the time or more with manager approval.
- Apple adopted a hybrid model policy, where employees work in the office three days a week, which will be tracked by a badge. Those who fail to comply will face disciplinary measures.
- In September 2023, Meta began requiring three days in the office, with the threat of termination for noncompliance, citing internal data that indicated higher engineering outcomes when work is done in person.
The majority of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate employees were required to return to the office five days a week as of January 2025 — a move that received significant pushback.
What began as a grand experiment in flexibility is now settling into a new normal, where even the concept of “anywhere” has its limits.
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