Google delays mandatory return to office beyond Jan. 10

A man walks past a logo of Alphabet Inc's Google in front of at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland July 1, 2020. Register now for FREE unlimited access to reuters.comDec 2 - Alphabet Inc's Google said on Thursday it is indefinitely pushing back its January return-to-office plan globally amid growing concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and some resistance to company-mandated vaccinations. Google in August had 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. On Thursday, Google executives told employees that the company would put off the deadline beyond that date. Nearly 40% of U.S. employees have come into an office in recent weeks, Google said, with higher percentages in other parts of the world. CNBC reported last week 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.