Google employees will work from home till July 2021

Google has extended the work-from-home order for its employees till July 2021 amid rising coronavirus cases around the world. This makes the internet giant the first US company to take such a decision.

The move will affect almost 200,000 employees, including contractors and full-time workers, across Google's parent firm Alphabet Inc. Earlier, the search engine major had said that employees should expect to return to offices by January 2021.

"To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we are extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021 for roles that don't need to be in the office," Pichai said in an email to employees. "I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a mail to the employees.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai made the decision himself after debate among Google Leads, an internal group of company top brass that he chairs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The United States, home country of Google, has been the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The nation has reported over 4.2 million cases and at least 146,900 deaths by Monday, according to data from John Hopkins University.