Google changes WFH rules and now they can no longer…

Google is tightening its remote work rules, particularly its Work From Anywhere policy.

Google has been tightening its approach to remote work over the past year, having already asked employees to be in the office at least three days a week, with two hybrid days on offer. Now, according to a new CNBC report, the company is making its Work From Anywhere (WFA) policy, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, stricter.

Google employees, as per CNBC, will no longer be able to use their Work From Anywhere days to work from home. (REUTERS File)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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The report states that the policy previously allowed Google employees to work from any location outside their main Google office for up to four weeks in a calendar year. Going forward, however, even a single day of remote work will count as a full week, according to an internal communication seen by CNBC.

What Google Said In An Internal Document

“Whether you log one WFA day or five WFA days in a given standard work week, one WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance,” the document says. “WFA weeks cannot be used to work from home or nearby,” it adds.

Simply put, this means employees will no longer be able to use their Work From Anywhere days to work from home, which will certainly limit those who may have been doing so.

Two Days Work From Home Remains

Notably, this change does not affect Google’s existing policy that allows employees to work from home for two out of five days a week. This means employees are still expected in the office for three days each week, while retaining the flexibility of two “light” days at home.

Earlier this year, reports suggested that Google was strictly requiring employees to work three days a week in the office or risk losing their jobs. Some full-time employees in the US were offered voluntary buyouts, while remote workers were presented with a similar choice if they did not return to the hybrid model.

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