This is not the tech disruption we were hoping for.

Expecting the virus threat to linger a little longer, Google told CBS MoneyWatch that it will allow employees to work from home for at least another year. 

“To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we’ll be extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021 for roles that don’t need to be in the office,” CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a memo to Google employees. “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.”

New Normal

When the virus hit Silicon Valley and the rest of the world this year, tech companies were among the first to pack up their offices to move to remote work setups.

Several months into the ordeal, it just does not feel like a temporary adjustment anymore.

In fact, companies like Twitter and Facebook told NPR that their employees will now work out of the office -- permanently.

Employees of other tech firms might as well invest in more comfortable chairs as Google’s decision to keep its employees at home is expected to pressure other businesses to follow suit.

After all, it’s not like the risks of forcing normalcy have been reduced in recent weeks from when it started earlier this year.

Lesser Evils

With that, executives are trying to avoid making the same mistake Elon Musk did by prematurely allowing employees back to its factories.

Sources told The Washington Post that several employees across Tesla’s production facilities have contracted the coronavirus since they trooped back to on-site work.

“No social distancing at all when clocking in/out [of Tesla offices because] people are in a hurry to go home or get back to their work station,” one of the sources said.

Worse, three other workers claim they’ve been fired after insisting on working from home rather than risk catching the virus in the factory.

“The company, Elon included, they don’t really care about the health and well-being of the employees,” said Nayo Miller after receiving a termination notice for staying home.

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