Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat
FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP | Getty Images
Google is asking cloud employees and partners to share their desks and alternate days with their desk-mates starting next quarter, citing “real estate efficiency,” CNBC has learned.
The new desk-sharing model will apply to Google Cloud’s five largest U.S. locations — Kirkland, Washington; New York; San Francisco; Seattle and Sunnyvale, Calif. — and is happening so the company “can continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” according to an internal FAQ recently shared with cloud employees and viewed by CNBC. Some buildings will be vacated as a result, the document notes.
“Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler,” the internal document states, noting that they expect employees to come in on alternate days so they’re not at the same desk on the same day. “Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment.”
For anyone coming in on their unassigned days, they will use “overflow drop-in space.”
Internally, leadership has given the new seating arrangement a title: “Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE,” which it describes as “combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility” from hybrid work. The new workspace plan is not a temporary pilot, the document notes. “This will ultimately lead to more efficient use of our space.”
Google also used its internal data it has on it its employee office return patterns to inform the decision, the FAQ stated. In addition to slower office return patterns, the company has slowed hiring and laid off 11,000 employees in January.
Memes started showing up in the company’s meme platform Memegen, poking fun at the change — specifically targeting the “corpspeak” used by leadership to tout the new desk arrangement in what they viewed to be a cost-cutting measure.
“Not every cost-cutting…
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