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Google has tightened restrictions on its “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) program, marking another shift away from work-from-home flexibility.
The change means that even a single day of remote work will now count as a full week under the policy, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC.
The updated guidance, circulated over the summer before taking effect, states: “Whether you log 1 WFA day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance.”
The WFA scheme was introduced during the pandemic to allow employees to work from a location outside their main office for up to four weeks each year. It sits separately from Google’s hybrid schedule, which lets staff work from home two days per week.
“WFA weeks cannot be used to work from home or nearby,” the internal document notes.
In a statement, Google said: ""There was no change or new limits added to our Work From Anywhere Weeks policy. We simply clarified a few months ago that employees should use the flexibility to work in a different location for full weeks, not days, at a time."
Tech firms push for office returns
The decision mirrors a wider trend among major technology firms tightening in-office mandates. Microsoft recently announced plans to require employees to be in offices three days per week starting next year, while Amazon has instructed corporate staff to attend five days a week.
Google itself began offering voluntary buyouts to some US full-time employees at the start of 2025 and warned that fully remote workers risk layoffs if they do not switch to a hybrid schedule.
Under the new WFA rules, employees cannot work from another state or country due to “legal and financial implications of cross-border work.” Staff in other locations may also have to align their hours with that region’s business day. The changes do not apply to all roles, with data center workers and others required on-site exempt from the program.
Violating the new policy could result in disciplinary action or termination, according to the document.
At a recent all-hands meeting, the policy prompted employee frustration, with one describing the new system as “confusing,” and asking why “even one day of WFA counts as a whole week”, requesting reconsideration of limits on working from home.
John Casey, Google’s Vice President of Performance and Rewards, defended the update, saying WFA “was meant to meet Googlers where they were during the pandemic.”
He added that the program “was always intended to be taken in increments of a week and not be used as a substitute for working from home in a regular hybrid work week.”
