Google employees to face vaccine mandate and remote work pay cuts

Google employees could face both a vaccine mandate if they return to the office, and pay cuts if they move to permanent remote work. 

Google employees could face a vaccine mandate if they return to the office, and pay cuts if they move to permanent remote work. 

Vaccine mandate 

Google and Facebook have announced that it will be mandatory for employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus before returning to offices. According to Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, the policy will be rolled out to 144,000 employees in the coming weeks. In addition, the tech giant has also delayed the reopening of its office to October 18th, to mitigate against the further spread of the Delta variant.

“Anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated. We’re rolling this policy out in the U.S. in the coming weeks and will expand to other regions in the coming months,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a memo, adding that “getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the months ahead.”

Many employers have already mandated employees getting their shots. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Morgan Stanley, CNN, the Washington Post, United Airlines, Microsoft, Uber, Netflix, Walgreens, Tyson, Walmart and Disney have ordered their workforce to obtain their vaccines.

“How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations,” Lori Goler, vice-president of human resources, said in a statement. “We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves.”  

A study from Qualtrics surveyed individuals, asking them how they would respond to a business if it made vaccination compulsory. 44% of Americans answered that they would consider leaving their jobs if it was mandated. In contrast to this 38% of Americans said that they would consider leaving their job if the organisation did not make vaccines compulsory. 

Pay cuts for permanent remote workers

A company pay calculator seen by Reuters has suggested that Google employees who choose to work from home could face pay cuts if they choose to work from home permanently. Facebook and Twitter have also implemented a similar system. Meanwhile, smaller firms such as Reddit and Zillow have announced that they will pay the same, no matter where employees are based, citing that it improves diversity.

A Google spokesperson said: “Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from,”, adding that pay will differ from city to city and state to state.

According to Reuters, one Google employee, who requested to remain anonymous, would commute to Seattle from a nearby country, and would likely see their pay cut by 10%, if they go to working from home full time. This cut was calculated from the company’s company’s Work Location Tool, which was rolled out in June.

READ MORE:

Sociology professor at Washington University in St Louis, Jake Rosenfeld, questions who will feel the cuts the most, and expressed concerns around how the cuts will impact families. “What’s clear is that Google doesn’t have to do this,” Rosenfeld said. “Google has paid these workers at 100% of their prior wage, by definition. So it’s not like they can’t afford to pay their workers who choose to work remotely the same that they are used to receiving.”

For more news from Top Business Tech, don’t forget to subscribe to our daily bulletin!

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

Amber Donovan-Stevens

Amber is a Content Editor at Top Business Tech

How E-commerce Marketers Can Win Black Friday

Sue Azari • 11th November 2024

As new global eCommerce players expand their influence across both European and US markets, traditional brands are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape. These fast-growing Asian platforms have gained traction by offering ultra-low prices, rapid product turnarounds, heavy investment in paid user acquisition, and leveraging viral social media trends to create demand almost in real-time. This...

Why microgrids are big news

Craig Tropea • 31st October 2024

As the world continues its march towards a greener future, businesses, communities, and individuals alike are all increasingly turning towards renewable energy sources to power their operations. What is most interesting, though, is how many of them are taking the pro-active position of researching, selecting, and implementing their preferred solutions without the assistance of traditional...

Is automation the silver bullet for customer retention?

Carter Busse • 22nd October 2024

CX innovation has accelerated rapidly since 2020, as business and consumer expectations evolved dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, finding the best way to engage and respond to customers has become a top business priority and a key business challenge. Not only do customers expect the highest standard, but companies are prioritising superb CX to...

Automated Testing Tools and Their Impact on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 09th October 2024

Test automation refers to using specialized software tools and frameworks to automate the execution of test cases, thereby reducing the time and effort required for manual testing. This approach ensures that automation tests run quickly and consistently, allowing development teams to identify and resolve defects more effectively. Test automation provides greater accuracy by eliminating human...

Custom Software Development

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

There is a wide performance gap between industry-leading companies and other market players. What helps these top businesses outperform their competitors? McKinsey & Company researchers are confident that these are digital technologies and custom software solutions. Nearly 70% of the top performers develop their proprietary products to differentiate themselves from competitors and drive growth. As...

The Impact of Test Automation on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

Software systems have become highly complex now, with multiple interconnected components, diverse user interfaces, and business logic. To ensure quality, QA engineers thoroughly test these systems through either automated or manual testing. At Testlum, we met many software development teams who were pressured to deliver new features and updates at a faster pace. The manual...