Members of Google's leadership team, including CEO Sundar Pichai, have defended a recent decision to introduce desktop sharing rotations in the company's cloud arm.
Google Cloud employees in Kirkland, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Sunnyvale were recently asked to help the company save on real estate in an initiative Google calls Cloud Office Evolution (CLOE).
Many affected workers have understandably been vocal about the change, which was addressed by Pichai during a recent show of hands, audio of which was shared with CNBC(opens in a new tab).
Google Cloud Desktop Sharing
In response to criticism from employees, Pichai said:
"There are people, by the way, who regularly complain that they walk in and there are huge swaths of empty offices and it feels like a ghost town, not just not a pleasant experience."
Pichai went on to explain that the company has expensive real estate, and special attention should be paid to its use.
Anas Osman, Google Cloud's vice president of strategy and operations, also spoke at the company's meeting, saying that "1-to-1 desktops...were in use about 35% of the time over four days or more."
Osman also noted that some workers report feeling more productive in the collaborative environment leveraged by desktop sharing and hybrid job rotations.
Another criticism Google faced as part of the change was its indirect way of dealing with negative issues within the organization. A meme on the company's Memegen platform read: “Not all cost-cutting measures need to be tweaked to sound good to employees.
Though he defends himself when it comes to hot-desking, Pichai agreed with the staff that the company should "strive to be as simple as possible" and that this kind of criticism is "totally valid."
However, with heels on the ground, it seems that Google Cloud employees will continue to be affected by CLOE. Although not confirmed, if successful, it could be a move that is reflected in other parts of the business or even broader.