Google is hoping to lure workers back to the office with a special strategy, but some aren’t convinced it’s a good deal.
The company said full-time employees can reserve a room at a campus hotel in Mountain View, California, for $99 a night in what is billed as a “Summer Special,” according to materials seen by CNBC.
The description states that the offer will run until September 30 in the hope that it will “easily transition Googlers to the hybrid workplace.”
Since the promotion is for unapproved business travel, the company will not refund their stays, but will require employees to use their personal credit cards, the special’s description says.
“Imagine not having to commute to the office in the morning, and could instead get an extra hour of sleep,” the description reads. “You can get out of your room and quickly grab a delicious breakfast or exercise before work starts.”
The ad adds that after the work day is over, “you could enjoy a quiet night on the rooftop terrace or take part in one of the fun local activities.”
The hotel owned by Google is located in a newer campus in Mountain View, California, which opened last year. The 42-acre campus is adjacent to NASA’s Ames Research Center and has the capacity to house 4,000 employees who work on its advertising products, the company said at its opening.
The San Francisco Bay Area has some of the highest real estate costs due in part to limited housing supply from decades-old zoning restrictions and high demand, most of which comes from tech workers and executives. well-paid from the surrounding tech industry. The city of Mountain View is especially sparse in housing and contains large swaths of corporate offices, many of which are owned or leased by Google.
A Google spokesperson said the company offers special offers for employees to take advantage of company spaces and amenities.
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“IT’S MORE EXPENSIVE THAN WHERE I LIVE”
Some employees have commented on the hotel’s treatment on internal discussion forums.
One meme featured movie snippets including a scene in the movie “Mean Girls” where the lead character played by Lindsey Lohan says “No thanks.”
“Now I can return part of my payment to Google,” read another meme.
Another meme joked that living on campus during the summer could throw off your “work-life balance.”
At $99 a night, the hotel would amount to about $3,000 a month, employees noted in internal discussions seen by CNBC.
An employee pointed out that the hotel’s amenities were not to be ignored. “I pay more and get much less in total for my apartment,” wrote one employee. Although it is true that where I live is much better.
Another said it was still too expensive. “If it was around $60 a night it might be a nice alternative to apartments, but $99? No, thanks.”
“Totally would have, if you’d fit a certain profile: $3,000 rent all inclusive, fully furnished, unlimited meals, utilities paid, plus maid service every day,” another employee wrote.
Another hypothesized that the move could be a way to reduce vacancy at the hotel after Google cut corporate travel budgets.
Google began ordering most employees back to the office three days a week last year, after several changes to its plans complicated by spikes in coronavirus infection rates. However, attendance had been thin in the months since the mandate as workers pushed back, citing high housing costs near offices and increased productivity while working remotely, which matched record profits for the company.
In June, the company became more stringent, announcing new measures that included the use of back office attendance in performance reviews and tracking badge data. The company’s head of human resources even asked already-approved remote workers to reconsider their status and rejoin their colleagues in the office.
This article It was originally published in English by Jennifer Elias for our sister chain CNBC.com. For more from CNBC enter here.
