Google is offering a discounted rate for employees to book a stay at the on-campus hotel as part of a "Summer Special." Several employees have expressed their thoughts on the proposed deal, and the company has implemented stricter attendance policies in recent weeks.
Google is attempting to attract personnel back to their office with a discounted accommodation offer, however, some personnel are unconvinced that this is a good deal. According to materials seen by CNBC, the organisation stated that its full-time workers could reserve a room at the on-site hotel in Mountain View for only $99 per night, as part of their so-called 'Summer Special' that will be valid until 30th September. It is hoped that this option may make it easier to accustom to the hybrid workplace approach. Although the stay is for business purposes, the company will not refund the expenses, but will ask its staff to use their own credit cards.The advertisement listed the benefits of taking this offer, such as the fact that there is no need to make a long commute to the office in the morning and that the employee can save time by getting breakfast or working out before the beginning of the workday. Furthermore, the individual has the option of relaxing on the roof terrace or taking part in some of the local activities after the workday is over.The on-site hotel that is part of the Google campus is set in a new 42-acre area in Mountain View, California. When the campus opened, the company revealed that it has the capability to accommodate 4,000 employees that are working on its ad services.The Bay Area is notorious for its high real estate prices, partly because of constraints on housing supply due to decades-old zoning regulations and the elevated demand from the neighbouring booming tech industry. In particular, the city of Mountain View witnesses a dearth of housing and is full of corporate offices, majority of which are owned or rented out by Google.A spokesperson from Google mentioned that they regularly issue specials so that personnel can take advantage of their facilities and services.
Some employees have commented on the hotel deal in internal discussion forums, with one post showing a scene in the movie "Mean Girls," where Lindsay Lohan's character states "No, thank you." Another highly rated meme read "Now I can give some of my pay back to Google." A joke about living on campus for the summer disrupting work-life balance also circulated. At $99 a night, the cost would be approximately $3,000 a month, which people pointed out in internal discussions seen by CNBC. One employee said that the hotel provided better amenities than their own apartment, but the price was still seen as too high by some. Another employee thought that if the cost was around $60 a night, it could be an appropriate substitute for apartments, but not for $99. Someone else proposed that Google could be using this strategy to reduce vacancy at the hotel after their cutback on corporate travel budgets.
Last year, Google implemented a plan for employees to visit physical offices three days a week, though due to Covid infection increases, this didn't go as planned. Attendance was also low following the transition to remote work, despite the company's record profits, due to workers expressing reservations over high living costs and greater productivity at home. In June, Google tightened its policy, mandating that office attendance should be taken into account when assessing performance and using badge data to monitor employees. The firm's HR chief even asked already accepted remote staff to reconsider their decision and come back to the offices.
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