Google tells employees: Take a seat, or a new desk

Getting googly-eyed over an ergonomic chair you spotted online?

Those stuck working from home for Google can expense it. No, really.

The employer that brought free cooking classes and ping pong tables to the office is giving employees a $1,000 expense account to spiff up their home workspaces, according to a letter addressed to “Googlers” from CEO Sundar Pichai.

The plan is to keep workers at home until all is safe, he wrote.

“We’ll be approaching the return to office with a gradual, phased approach, taking both team and individual needs and preferences into account: we are taking slow, deliberate steps to begin re-opening offices in areas where they still remain largely closed,” he wrote. “We’re also investing more in your work-from-home setup to make sure you have what you need to be productive and comfortable.”

“Because we still expect that most Googlers will be largely working from home for the rest of this year, we’ll be giving each Googler an allowance… to expense necessary equipment and office furniture.”

More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.