Google delays return to US offices past January 10 amid uncertainty over the Omicron COVID-19 variant

• Google has told US employees they will not be returning to the office on January 10, CNBC reported.
• The company earlier told non-US employees they too would not be returning.

Google is postponing the return to the office for US employees past its original target of January 10, the company told employees on Thursday, CNBC reported.

A spokesperson from Google told Insider in an email that said that the company had always planned to be flexible with the return to the office date — with January 10 being the earliest.

Google will now wait until 2022 to assess when locations should reopen, and local conditions will play into the decision-making. US workers at Google who want to work from the office have been able to do so, per the spokesperson.

The move comes amid uncertainty over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, with countries imposing new travel restrictions. As Insider reported earlier on Thursday, the company has also pushed back the return to offices in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.