The senior Google executive Urs Hölzle is moving to New Zealand to work remotely, CNET reported.
His move fueled internal uproar as he reportedly opposed remote work for lower-level staff.
Google has said it is planning to have most employees start returning to the office in September.
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A senior Google executive has caused uproar at the company after reportedly moving to New Zealand to work remotely despite opposing remote work for the company's lower-ranking employees.
Urs Hölzle, Google's senior vice president for technical infrastructure, told staff on June 29 that he's headed to New Zealand for a year to work remotely, according to reporting published Thursday in CNET. His move has fed claims of special treatment and a double standard in the company's stance toward remote work. He strongly opposed remote work for Google employees who didn't have a certain seniority level or wouldn't be assigned to an office, a resigning employee told CNET.
"After three decades in the US, my wife and I both felt it was time to consider a new location," Hölzle wrote in a company memo reviewed by CNET. "We've decided to spend a year in New Zealand and see how we like it."
A Google spokesperson told Insider that Hölzle never opposed remote work for employees who didn't have a certain seniority level or wouldn't be assigned to an office.
Read more: Google's push to bring employees back to offices in September is frustrating some employees who say they'll quit if they can't be remote forever
Hölzle requested and got approval for the move last year, before Google announced its plans to return to the office, but he was delayed in his relocation because of the pandemic, the company spokesperson told Insider.
Hölzle also said in the announcement that he will continue to work on California time and will drop by the office occasionally, saying he plans to be in the Bay Area "on a regular basis" as travel restrictions ease.
"If things go well, we may decide to stay longer," he continued in the memo. He concluded, "I'm looking forward to this adventure and to sharing the results of our relocation 'experiment' with you."
Google has previously announced plans to have most employees start returning to the office in September for three days a week. The company later modified those plans to say 20% of employees can work from new office locations and 20% can work remotely. The remaining 60% will come in the office a few days each week.
In response to a question from Insider about whether Hölzle opposed remote work for Google employees who didn't have a certain seniority level or wouldn't be assigned to an office, the Google spokesperson said, "All employees are eligible to apply for either remote status or to work in another city."
The spokesperson added: "We expect our hybrid model to evolve over time given the wide scope of the business and needs at the team and function level."
ClubMeSoftly on July 9th, 2021 at 14:44 UTC »
So this dude's gonna work from 4am to noon, Kiwi Time, for a year? and he's also going to regularly take 13+ hour flights back and forth?
BS, dude. I can smell it from here.
jmnugent on July 9th, 2021 at 13:53 UTC »
Like.. dude. Nobody gives a flying F about your "experiment". Stop being so insufferably pretentious.
its_harold on July 9th, 2021 at 13:28 UTC »
I worked for a global MSP up until 2020.
The CEO actually sent out an email to tell us he bought a second house and a private nanny/tutor to keep his family safe during Covid pandemic. And ask what we're doing to keep our families safe. Just a bit out of touch, eh? Sparked some interesting conversations with my coworkers.
They also sent out an email about donating to a special fund they created to support local nurses etc(not local to me though). It was a survey asking how much we were willing to have auto-removed from our paycheck. There was no $0 option or opt out, instead you had to email the CEO to explain your reasons for opting out.
Let's just say that didn't go over well. Seems like the backlash got to him before legal, because at least here in the US, you can't deduct anything from an employee's paycheck without prier written authorization.
A few coworkers shared the emails response they got from the CEO, and he wanted to harp on how we appreciate the employee first culture (lol) "until it comes to what, 70 dollars?'
He actually said other companies would fire people first, and ask questions later, while they were doing everything possible to keep employees.
Anyways, they let a bunch of staff go a few months later (myself included).
Edit: Since a lot of people are asking, Options IT / Options Technology. Niche market (private equity/hedge funds) based out of Belfast, N Ireland.
Edit 2: I forgot this one! He emailed all staff to encourage donating, and revealed he accidentally donated 20k twice, lol, like he gets some brownie points.