The pandemic disrupted the office in a fundamental way. Remote work turned from a nice perk to a way of life for many. It’s an abrupt change for a tech industry that has a long history of rolling out perks to keep employees in the office for as long as conceivably possible.
Google is among those corporations that has been pulling out all the stops to get Googler butts back into their Herman Miller Aerons. But a new perk is rubbing some employees the wrong way.
The company is internally advertising a $99 “Summer Special” for its campus hotel. Granted, as someone who frequently books lodging in the South Bay, that’s quite a deal, but the whole bit about effectively sleeping at the office leaves a bit to be desired.
“Just imagine no commute to the office in the morning and instead, you could have an extra hour of sleep and less friction,” the company writes. “Next, you could walk out of your room and quickly grab a delicious breakfast or get a workout in before work starts.”
The “deal,” which runs through the end of September, is for full-time employees only. It doesn’t qualify as a travel expense, so employees have to pay for it themselves, using their personal credit cards.
CNBC notes a less than stellar reaction among employees on the internal message board. One writes, “Now I can give some of my pay back to Google.” What better way to say thanks to the corporate overlords?