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Google's offices were once famous to outsiders as a whimsical, magical place full of giant playground slides, 24/7 staff masseuses, a huge selection of free food, and complimentary laundry service. Today, in the new, cost-cutting era of Google, some employees don't even get to have their own desks.
CNBC's Jennifer Elias obtained an internal document from Google's "Cloud" division, which declares, “Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler.” The move is apparently part of a cost-cutting measure that will allow Google to “continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” and will result in some buildings being vacated. CNBC says the new policy will apply to Google Cloud's biggest US locations, in Kirkland, Washington; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California.
Rather than the humorous image of Google employees sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and fighting over desk space, employees are expected to alternate their desk usage from one day to the next. After the pandemic and the work-from-home trend, Google wants employees to visit the office twice a week on a "hybrid work" policy. So they'll be expected to partner with a desk buddy and set the rules for how they will share. Google's document says if you don't stick to your schedule you could end up without a desk; in that case, you'll have to work at an “overflow drop-in space.”
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