If there’s anything that the last year or so has shown us it’s that, for better or for worse, humans are very adaptable creatures. For example, in the early days of Covid, Google was one of the first companies to have their employees work remotely. There was a culture shock: forcing employees, who were accustomed to spending the majority of their waking hours at the office, to work solely from home.

Now the company is doing an about face.

As Business Insider reports, “Google employees are due back in the office in September, and many are not happy about it. Some are even threatening to quit if they’re not allowed to permanently work from home.

“While tech firms such as Microsoft and Twitter have announced plans to allow employees to work from home permanently, Google has resisted going fully remote, and employees said there’s an increasing sense of frustration among a faction of the workforce,” no doubt since Google announced in December that they planned on piloting a flexible work week.

The Draw of the Perks

Lest we forget, in the good old work-from-the-office days, Google offered employees everything from free meals to dry cleaning services – even massage therapists – on campus. One could get various and sundries accomplished without ever having to leave the office, or have it intrude on one’s personal time. Of course, it did also keep one somewhat tethered to their desks, as did the workload itself.

Then again, the tech sector has always been notorious for not subscribing to a 9-5 schedule.

Which is why Google also provided nap pods.

Along came Covid, offices closed – and the Bay Area had been devolving in terms of lifestyle anyway, due to the homeless problems and lax rules, including the well-reported fact that Used needles and human feces (were) found littering downtown San Francisco as infectious disease expert warns the area is becoming dirtier than some slums in India and Brazil. Enough! Residents/employees left for more affordable and livable locales (People are leaving California at record rates).They sold their homes, they gave up their apartments. Now Google is snapping its proverbial fingers and expects employees to uproot their families again? Are all of those free lunches, snacks and various and sundries enough of a draw to get them to return?

So, did the work-from-home model fail? Far from going out of business or even suffering, parent company Alphabet just set profit record.

Work/Life Balance – Done!

Speaking of which, remember the whole work/life balance issue that so completely consumed the tech sector not all that long ago? Seems that the lockdowns, in many ways, achieved just that. Or at least created something of a model for it.

Gotta love that law of unintended consequences.

While we’re on the subject of possible unintended consequences, remember all of those reports of the toxic corporate culture that seemed always to fester on the Google (and other company) campuses? And remember James Damore’s outing of that culture? Did remote work somewhat resolve some of those issues?

Situations Change – and so do people

Many Google employees have already indicated that they would rather resign than to have to return to the office full time. Some already have. Although Google is said to be considering other options, such as opening offices in more remote locations.

Still, the perks don’t seem to be the inducement they once were, nor is giving up most of one’s waking hours for the privilege of working for Google seemingly the draw it once was. Zoom, Slack and other programs have allowed companies to effectively work remotely, and overworked tech workers have discovered – some for the first time – what it’s like to have a life outside of the office and might have also discovered – again, many for the first time – at the end of the day – or more accurately, in the middle of the day – that there really is no such thing as a free lunch. Onward and forward.