Google is telling some remote staff to show up to the office three days a week or risk losing their jobs in a fresh return-to-office (RTO) push.
As first reported by CNBC, which cited internal documents it had access to, multiple divisions across Google are now mandating that remote employees transition to a hybrid work arrangement as a condition of continued employment. The shift comes amid broader cost-optimisation efforts, with leadership signalling that adherence to the new workplace policy may directly influence job security.
Although Google has broadly operated in a three-day hybrid structure since 2022, some employees were previously approved for full-time remote work.
Courtenay Mencini, a Google spokesperson, told CNBC:
As we’ve said before, in-person collaboration is an important part of how we innovate and solve complex problems. To support this, some teams have asked remote employees that live near an office to return to in-person work three days a week.”
At the start of 2025, Google introduced a round of voluntary exit offers to segments of its US-based full-time workforce. For some employees working remotely, these buyouts weren’t just optional but framed as the only alternative to complying with a new office attendance mandate requiring at least three days per week on-site.
In Google Technical Services, CNBC reports that remote employees must adopt a hybrid schedule or accept a buyout. Those relocating within 50 miles of an office may receive one-time assistance. People Operations staff face similar terms: local remote workers must return part-time this month or risk termination. Those farther away can stay remote, but must switch to hybrid if they change roles. Voluntary exits began rolling out to this group in March.
The shift follows January’s layoffs in Google’s Platforms and Devices division, which includes Android, Chrome, Nest, and Fitbit. Since then, nearly two dozen teams have faced cuts. While remote work has been cited in internal discussions, leadership has largely framed the changes around cost savings and AI investment.
SVP Rick Osterloh, who now leads the unified Android and hardware group, said hybrid work expectations may not suit everyone and suggested the exit program offers a path forward.
Despite ongoing restructuring, Mencini states that Google is continuing to hire for key roles globally.
Google’s Strategic Refocus on AI—and Its Structural Side Effects
Google’s push to get employees back on-site gained momentum in February, following pointed remarks from co-founder Sergey Brin. In a memo shared with Google AI teams, Brin urged staff to work from the office every weekday, citing 60 hours per week as the “sweet spot for productivity”. He asserted that to properly compete in an AI race advancing at breakneck speed, Google must “turbocharge” its efforts, which he suggested begins with a more substantial in-person presence.
This escalation in RTO enforcement and workforce model reevaluation reflects deeper structural shifts within the company. As Google and the broader tech sector tighten spending, they’re also channelling vast resources into AI. The scale of investment required for cutting-edge AI development, from data centre capacity to top-tier engineering talent, is encouraging companies to reevaluate their cost structures.
Following a sweeping round of layoffs in early 2023, Google has continued to trim headcount through more targeted reductions, aligning its talent base with its AI-driven ambitions. By the end of 2024, the company’s global workforce had declined to about 183,000, compared to approximately 190,000 in 2022, and that was before the aforementioned layoffs in January.
What of the Other Tech Giants?
Amazon has undoubtedly had the most high-profile RTO push over the past few years. Similarly to Google, it embraced a gradual shift from remote to hybrid (with some controversial policy adjustments along the way) to asking corporate workers to be in the office five days a week, which was announced in September.
This policy prompted a significant backlash from staff. Blind, a forum for verified tech workers, surveyed 2,500 Amazon employees. The results showed that 91 percent of respondents were unhappy with the new RTO mandate, and nearly three-fourths (73 percent) considered seeking employment elsewhere. Meanwhile, an anonymous survey was conducted on an Amazon Slack channel with over 30,000 employees. Within a few days, the survey revealed an average satisfaction rating of 1.4 for the RTO mandate, indicating significant dissatisfaction.
However, since the start of the year, it has struggled to implement its full-time RTO mandate due to a lack of office space in US cities.
Otherwise, Microsoft and Apple currently persist with flexible, hybrid working models analogous to those they adopted once the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic was over.
