Google Delays Mandatory Return to Office beyond Jan.10

Google announced, on Thursday, that its workers are no longer required to go back to the office in January amid growing concerns over the Omicron variant.

In August, Google said it would expect workers to come in about three days a week from Jan. 10 at the earliest, ending its voluntary work-from-home policy.

However, executives told employees that the company would put off the deadline beyond that planned date.

Google noted that nearly 40% of U.S. employees have come into an office in recent weeks with higher percentages in other parts of the world.

Nonetheless, CNBC has reported that hundreds of employees have protested the company's vaccination mandate for those working on U.S. government contracts.

Google was one of the first companies to ask its employees to work from home during the pandemic. It has about 85 offices across nearly 60 countries.

Europe has so far recorded 79 cases of the Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa last month, the European Union's public health agency announced earlier on Thursday.