Desk Sharing Policy Defended By Google Ceo, Saying Some Offices Are Like Ghost Towns

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, defended the cloud division's new desk-sharing policy for work members by claiming that some of the company's offices are essentially empty and informing them of the high cost of real estate.

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In a company-wide conference last week, Pichai remarked, "To me it's evident that they are attempting to be efficient and save cash but at the same time also maximize resources," according to audio acquired by Trade Algo. By the way, some people frequently say that when they arrive, the office is vacant and feels like a ghost town. It's just an unpleasant experience.

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Pichai's remarks come in response to a Trade Algo report from last month regarding Google's intention to require partners and staff members working in the cloud to share desks at the division's five biggest offices, which include New York and San Francisco. The corporation is referring to the restructuring as Cloud Office Evolution (CLOE).

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Executives from Alphabet stated during the company's fourth-quarter earnings report in early February that they anticipate Google to spend about $500 million in the current quarter on reduced global office space as the company deals with concerns about the ongoing recession and sluggish revenue growth.

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Pichai claimed that many employees attend the office "just two days a week," which he claimed results in an inefficient use of the available space. Pichai remarked, "We should be excellent stewards of financial resources. "We have pricey real estate. We must exercise caution in how we think about them if they are only used 30% of the time.

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At the same all-hands conference, Anas Osman, Google Cloud's strategy and operations vice president, stated around one-third of workers were coming into the offices at least 4 days per week, citing data from a pilot the organization performed in regards to returning to locations.

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Employees in the test program had the choice of a dedicated or shared desk, according to Osman.

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According to Osman, the one-to-one desks were actually used about 35% of the time over a period of four days or more. "We think this is a nice blend of how to both discover efficiencies and offer a better experience."

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He claimed that sharing occasionally increased output.

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Even in a rotational model with a shared desk, Googlers reported considerably improved collaboration when they were allotted days in the office, according to data from the pilot study, according to Osman.

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The cloud division, which accounts for about a quarter of the company's total workforce, is where the new policy, according to Pichai, is currently only applicable to employees.

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Pichai addressed employee complaints on the implementation of the desk-sharing policy and the manner in which it was communicated to the workforce at the meeting. Memes challenging the leadership's messaging began to appear in the internal Memegen system, according to an earlier report by Trade Algo. Not every cost-cutting initiative needs to be worded to seem favorable to employees, according to a well-known meme.

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Pichai read two responses from employees in response to queries and comments: "Double speak is insulting and unpleasant," and "Bad things happen; there's no need to make every terrible thing look like a miracle."

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Pichai replied, "I concur with the sentiment expressed here. The criticism is accurate.

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Pichai remarked, "We should always aim to be as transparent as possible. "I believe it's crucial to realize that, on our size, virtually all communications are of a public character. You are communicating to the entire world and there are a huge number of stakeholders, so there are moments when subtlety is crucial and words may have a real influence. I believe you can occasionally see that in some of the messages.

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Requests for comment from a Google spokesperson were not immediately returned.

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