San Francisco, July 27: Google is letting most of its employees work from home until Summer of 2021 globally, including India, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Aphabet Inc's company had earlier said that the workforce could work from home until the end of this year. Reports suggest that Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai made this decision last week after deliberations with senior executives at the firm. Google to Invest Rs 75,000 Crore in India Over Next 5-7 Years Through 'Google for India Digitisation Fund', Says CEO Sundar Pichai.

In an email to employees, Pichai wrote, "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. 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."

Google had shut its offices in March as the respiratory disease hit the San Francisco Bay area. The search media giant initially planned to have workers return on July 6, 2020, but COVID-19 cases started surging in California and Google pushed back opening date till al least September. Now, the company has extended it to further one year.

The COVID-19 crisis has completely changed the working style of tech companies. Firms including Facebook and Twitter are planning to allow some of its employees to continue working from home indefinitely even after the pandemic ends.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 27, 2020 10:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).