Google HR confirms employees work over 40 hours a week, as 70-hour-work-week debate rages in India

Google’s HR department has clarified that the average Google employee works more than a typical 9-to-5 work day. This statement contradicts earlier reports that suggested Google employees have extremely light workloads. The HR was responding to a Google employee’s request to spread their work hours over more days. The HR team’s response clarifies the standard expectations the company has for its workers. T

An internal memo written by an HR representative was cited in a CNBC report. It stated that most salaried Google employees work longer than 8-hour days. The memo added that no one at Google is considered a super-employee for working a regular full-time job. So, squeezing a full-time job into fewer hours is not really possible.

However, the report confirms that Google allows its employees to apply for schedules that are 60% or 80% of full-time. But compressed work weeks aren’t as flexible or compatible with overall team schedules as the other options the company offers. 

After the report about the real working hours at Google came out, some employees at the company couldn’t wait to share it with their friends and family. Some even made funny memes about it. Earlier this year, there were reports of a Google software engineer who claimed to work only one hour per day. He claimed to work 1 hour a day with an annual pay of $150,000 (over Rs 1.20 crore).  These reports went viral, leading to misconceptions about Google employees’ workloads. The new memo gives Google employees sharable proof of their real workloads. 

70-hour-work-week Debate in India

According to Google, employees can request more flexible schedules. However, these requests are reviewed based on their roles and teams. According to the spokesperson cited in the report, there are times when Google employees work more than 40 hours a week to meet deadlines, cover for teammates, or deliver products and services to users. The report comes at a time when India Inc. debates a 70-hour work week for its working class. The debate was triggered after Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested Indian youngsters should work 70 hours a week to push the country ahead on the global stage. Some noted industrialists and 

In the past, Google has faced some criticism for its recruiting tactics, like offering lots of corporate perks. But in 2023, some tech companies, including Google, decided to cut back on some of these perks. The company also underwent a massive wave of layoffs earlier this year leading to job cuts of 12,000 Googlers or 6% of the entire workforce. Other companies like Amazon, and Meta, also fired thousands of employees. The layoffs also marked the end of the famous perks like free food and drinks as well as a relaxed work culture in Silicon Valley. 

Also read: OpenAI trying to attract top Google engineers, researchers with up to Rs 83 crore annual pay

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