Google: Google asks employees to share desks as company vacates office buildings: Report – Times of India

Google announced that it will cut 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce. The company CEO Sundar Pichai said that the reduction in headcount is due to the current economic downturn and over-recruiting during Covid-19. In the latest development, the search engine giant has taken more measures to increase “efficiency.”
As per a report by CNBC, Google has asked some employees to share desks starting next quarter. The company has reportedly cited “real estate efficiency” as the reason for this move. It also said that the desk sharing model will help the company to “continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” the report quoted an internal FAQ, shared with cloud employees, as saying. As a result, some buildings will be vacated.

“Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler. Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment,” the internal document stated.
Locations of desk-sharing model
The new desk-sharing model will apply to Google Cloud’s five largest US locations, namely, Kirkland (Washington), New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Sunnyvale (California). The company also expected the employees to come to the office on alternate days so two workers are not at the same desk on the same day.
In order to avoid such situations, Google has reportedly used the internal data it has on its employee office return patterns to inform the decision, the FAQ stated. In case employees turn up on an unassigned day, they will use “overflow drop-in space.”

Furthermore, the new seating arrangement is internally being called “Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE.” Google says that the new workspace “will ultimately lead to more efficient use of our space.”
Google downsizing real estate footprint
The decision to vacate some buildings is a part of broader cost-cutting. As per a report by SFGate, the company will end leases for “a number of unoccupied spaces” in the San Francisco Bay Area. Google will also put a cap on the number of rooms to be taken for meetings. Employees will reportedly be discouraged from “camping” in a conference room.