Google tightens ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy, counting single remote day as a full week
The tech giant further limits pandemic-era flexibility, restricting employees from working remotely outside their home offices as it pushes for stricter hybrid work compliance.
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Google is reportedly rolling back one of its most popular pandemic-era perks - the “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) policy by introducing new restrictions that effectively reduce employee flexibility for remote work.
Under the revised rules, even a single day of remote work outside an employee’s main office will now be counted as an entire week against their annual WFA quota. The change, which went into effect earlier this year, was detailed in internal documents reviewed 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,” the document said.
Originally introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, Google’s WFA policy allowed employees to work from any location for up to four weeks per calendar year. However, the update now limits how and where that flexibility can be used. Employees can no longer use WFA time to work from home or nearby locations, and are prohibited from working out of Google offices in other states or countries due to “legal and financial implications of cross-border work.”
The company’s standard hybrid schedule - allowing employees to work from home two days a week — remains unchanged. WFA days were meant to offer additional flexibility beyond this arrangement.
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“WFA was meant to meet Googlers where they were during the pandemic,” said John Casey, Google’s vice president of performance and rewards, during a recent all-hands meeting. “The policy was always intended to be taken in increments of a week and not be used as a substitute for working from home in a regular hybrid work week,” he added.
The tightened rules come as several major tech companies continue to scale back remote work privileges. Microsoft recently announced that employees will be required to work in-office three days a week starting next year, while Amazon has ordered corporate staff to return five days a week.
Google has also taken a harder stance on office attendance in recent months. Earlier this year, the company began offering voluntary buyouts to some U.S.-based employees and warned remote workers in certain units that failure to comply with hybrid schedules could lead to layoffs.
According to the internal memo, the new WFA rules may not apply to all employees, with exceptions likely for data center staff and those whose roles require physical presence. The company cautioned that violations of the policy could result in disciplinary action or termination.
Google has yet to issue a public statement on the latest changes.
