Lebanese Ministry of Information
Google and Facebook have told employees to prepare to work from home through the end of the year, according to recent reports.
Facebook plans to open their offices by July 6 but will give employees the option to continue working from home at least until 2021, CNBC first reported, while Google CEO Sundar Pinchai told employees to expect to work remotely through the end of the year, Bloomberg reported.
The two tech giants closed their offices in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and in compliance with state-mandated shutdowns. Google previously said it would reopen offices by June 1, in a letter to employees, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month that the company would have no gatherings with over 50 people until July 2021.
The move from the internet giants comes as states are reopening some parts of the economy, and private companies are figuring out how to get back to work safely.
Google employs close to 120,000 people globally, and Facebook has close to 45,000 staff members. Both are part of the wave of tech leasing that has led to massive growth in Manhattan’s office market, and have been among the companies to lease the most space in New York in recent years. In 2019, Facebook signed the year’s biggest lease, for 1.5 million square feet at Hudson Yards, and Google paid $600 million for the Milk Building in Chelsea, adding to its massive footprint in New York City.
Commercial Observer
