Google to allow remote work through July 2021

Google plans to allow its 200,000 full-time and contract employees to work from home at least through July 2021 amid an increase in the number of novel coronavirus infections, the tech giant said Monday.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet, made the decision last week because of the uncertainty over schools reopening this fall and the likely need for parents in some locations to help their children with at-home learning, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"I know it hasn't been easy," Pichai said in a note to staff Monday after the Journal reported the story. "I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of your selves and your loved ones over the next 12 months."

The delay in returning to the office will affect employees at the company's major offices, including corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, as well as other sites in the US, United Kingdom, Brazil and India.

New coronavirus cases in the US have increased recently as some states began restarting their local economies.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said it hopes workers in some cities, including New York, will be able to return to work this fall.

Salesforce.com plans to allow employees to work from home through the remainder of the year.

Amazon said corporate workers will be allowed to work remotely through at least January.

Twitter and Shopify said that some staffers will be permitted to work from home permanently.

Facebook said as much as 50 percent of its staff may work from home in the next 10 years.

The decision to allow an increasing number of employees to work from home may disrupt both the commercial real estate and housing markets.

Companies may reduce their office space in high-priced high-rise office buildings in major cities, as some workers decide to leave for the suburbs.

If that pattern continues and grows, it could erode the tax base of major cities and force a reordering of spending on schools and municipal services, including transit.

Large numbers of employees working from home would likely hurt businesses dependent on an influx of office workers five days a week, including restaurants, delis and retail shops in business districts.

Moderna said its study of an experimental coronavirus vaccine began Monday.

The test will include 30,000 people across the US and will determine if two doses of the new drug protects against symptomatic COVID-19.

The results could be known by November.