Google is continuing to restrict remote work as more American and tech companies push in-office mandates and less remote flexibility.
This time, the company is updating its Covid-era ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy, which allows employees to work remotely from any location away from their main office for up to four weeks per calendar year. Now Google will count even one WFA work day as a full week, according to an internal document obtained by CNBC on Wednesday.
“Whether you log 1 WFA day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance,” the document, which was circulated over the summer shortly before the update went into effect, said, according to CNBC.
The WFA policy is distinct from Google’s regular hybrid schedule, which grants employees permission to work from home two days per week. The hybrid schedule, which was also established during the pandemic, won’t be altered. WFA days give employees the flexibility to work remotely, but not “from home or nearby,” according to the leaked internal document.
The WFA policy update doesn’t apply to all Google staffers and may exclude those required to be in physical offices and data centers. Violations will result in disciplinary action or termination, according to CNBC.
Google did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
In April, Google warned remote employees in certain divisions that their roles could be eliminated if they did not comply with hybrid schedules, specifically requiring attendance in the office three days a week. Some teams also offered voluntary buyouts to remote workers living within 50 miles of an office and unwilling to relocate to work in person.
“As we’ve said before, in-person collaboration is an important part of how we innovate and solve complex problems,” a Google spokesperson told Fortune in April.
According to the WFA policy update, workers aren’t allowed to work from a Google office in a separate state or country during their WFA time due to ““legal and financial implications of cross border work,” according to CNBC.
Tech remote work
JobLeads, a Germany-based job search platform, CTO Jan Hendrik von Ahlen told Fortune of the more than 12 million U.S.-based job postings in its database, just under 6% of positions are fully remote, under 7% are hybrid, and almost 88% are on-site.
“That’s comparable to pre-pandemic numbers,” Hendrik von Ahlen said.
Across the sector, companies increasingly track attendance via badges and other tools and present RTO as necessary for culture and productivity, even as many maintain hybrid rather than fully remote models.
Apple moved to a three‑days‑in‑office hybrid and tied compliance to badge tracking and potential discipline, framing the shift around collaboration benefits despite employee pushback. Meta reinstated a three‑day requirement in September 2023 with enforcement up to performance hits or termination for noncompliance, citing internal data that in‑person work boosts engineering outcomes and keeping exceptions for originally remote hires.
Amazon escalated from a three‑day mandate to tighter enforcement against “coffee badging,” explored minimum daily in‑office hours, and signaled or set moves toward five days in 2025, sparking internal dissent and phased implementation challenges. Microsoft has shifted toward a formal three‑day on‑site baseline for employees near offices, reflecting a broader trend of codifying hybrid expectations after looser post‑pandemic flexibility.
The tightening of Google’s policy is in line with the larger trend among big employers that is seeing them slowly dial back pandemic-era flexibility, Kelsey Szamet, partner at Kingsley Szament Employment Lawyers, told Fortune.
“Such a policy change can take a tangible toll on morale and retention,” Szamet said, adding that changing expectations of more flexible in-office work policies may frustrate employees that were hired under the assumption of semi-or-fully remote work.
“That can contribute to disengagement or increased turnover, particularly among high performers who recognize that they can obtain flexible options elsewhere,” Szamet said.
