SAN RAMON, California: Google has decided that most of its 200,000 employees and contractors should work from home through next June, a sobering assessment of the pandemic’s potential staying power from the company providing the answers for the world’s most trusted Internet search engine.
The remote-work order issued Monday by Google CEO Sundar Pichai also affects other companies owned by Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet Inc. It marks a six-month extension of Google’s previous plan to keep most of its offices closed through the rest of this year.
“I know this extended timeline may come with mixed emotions and I want to make sure you’re taking care of yourselves,” wrote Pichai, who is also Alphabet’s CEO, in an email to employees.
Pichai’s decision was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The prolonged lockdown of Google’s offices could influence other major employers to take similar precautions, given that the technology industry has been at the forefront of the shift to remote work that has been triggered by the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Even before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, Google and many other prominent tech firms had been telling their employees to work from home.
Google had originally planned to allow a significant number of employees to begin returning to its Mountain View, California, headquarters and other offices during the summer. But the pandemic’s ongoing spread prompted Google to push back the reopening until January and now it has prompted yet another delay.
Besides helping protect people from the virus, the new July 2021 target date for reopening Google’s offices should make it easier for workers with children to adjust to schools that aren’t allowing students to return to campus next month and in September. It will also make it easier for employees to sign one-year leases if they decide to rent a home somewhere else while working outside the office.
“I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months,” Pichai wrote.
Pichai’s email noted that Google and Alphabet have been able to reopen some offices in 42 countries, although he didn’t specify which.
But new guidelines mean Google“s biggest offices will remain largely unoccupied through June 2021. The decision affects more than 123,000 employees on the payroll of Google and other Alphabet companies, as well as 80,000 contractors that normally work on the companies’ campuses.
The pandemic has also prompted several other tech companies to inform their workers they won’t have to return to work this year. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has taken the most extreme step so far by telling the messaging service’s employees they will never have to return to the office, if they don’t want, an offer he is also extending to workers at Square, a payment processing service that he also runs.
Google to keep most of its employees at home until July 2021
https://arab.news/gzee2
Google to keep most of its employees at home until July 2021
- The remote-work order issued by Google CEO Sundar Pichai also affects other companies owned by Google’s corporate parent Alphabet Inc
- The prolonged lockdown of Google’s offices could influence other major employers to take similar precautions, given that the tech industry has been at the forefront of the shift to remote work
AI use reaches 91% in Middle East hospitality: PwC survey
RIYADH: The use of artificial intelligence in the Middle East’s hospitality sector is accelerating, with 91 percent of industry leaders already using or piloting AI-related tools, a new survey showed.
In its latest report, professional services firm PwC said only 3 percent of tourism and hospitality organizations across the region have achieved full-scale, enterprise-wide implementation of AI technologies.
PwC noted that countries across the Middle East are rapidly deploying AI and smart digital technologies to enhance visitor experiences and strengthen the tourism and hospitality sector’s contribution to national economic transformation agendas.
The findings reflect a broader regional trend, as countries such as Saudi Arabia seek to position themselves as tourism and technology hubs as part of efforts to reduce reliance on crude oil revenues.
Earlier this month, a separate PwC report found that artificial intelligence use among the workforce in the Middle East continues to rise, with 75 percent of employees in the region using AI in their jobs over the past 12 months.
Commenting on the latest findings, Moussa Beidas, AI Go-to-Market Lead & Future Impact Center co-sponsor at PwC Middle East, said: “To realize AI’s promise, the industry must move beyond pilots and proofs of concept. True impact comes when intelligence is woven into every decision – empowering teams, optimising systems and elevating experiences.”
He added: “The leaders who turn AI from a tool into an organizational mindset will shape the next era of tourism and hospitality.”
The survey found that 74 percent of organizations in the Middle East’s hospitality sector now have dedicated AI budgets, signaling a shift from experimentation toward more structured and strategic adoption.
About 85 percent of respondents reported measurable improvements in cost savings and operational efficiency through the use of AI technologies.
However, challenges remain. Some 73 percent of participants cited a shortage of employees with AI expertise or experience in managing digital transformation, while 85 percent said they face difficulties integrating AI tools with outdated technology systems.
According to PwC, AI adoption in tourism and hospitality is being driven primarily by a focus on enhancing the customer experience, with 97 percent of respondents citing it as their main motivation.
Beyond guest engagement, more than 70 percent of hoteliers identified operational resilience and employee productivity as key drivers, highlighting AI’s growing role in improving internal efficiency and workforce effectiveness. More than 60 percent of participants also said they view AI as a way to differentiate from competitors.
“AI is redefining how destinations, hotels and travelers connect. The winners won’t be those who collect the maximum data, but those who use it intelligently – to make every interaction seamless, ethical and valuable,” said Marco Rentsch, hospitality leader, PwC Middle East.
He added: “For industry leaders, this means moving from disconnected systems to connected intelligence, where AI doesn’t replace human judgment and interaction, but amplifies it to create trust, efficiency and new forms of value across the entire travel ecosystem.”
