Google to keep workers at home through July 2021
27 July 2020
Google will keep its employees out of its offices and working from home through at least next July, the Wall Street Journal first reported and a source familiar with the policy confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: It's the first major U.S. company to allow remote work for such an extended period in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- The move will affect nearly all of the 200,000 employees and contractors across Alphabet, Google's parent company.
- It could spur other tech giants to also extend their remote work periods. Amazon and Snapchat have already said employees can stay home through the end of the year.
What they're saying: "To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we'll be extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021 for roles that don't need to be in the office," CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a company memo.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Ina Fried: Tech has been the most cautious sector of the economy, both because its main asset are its workers and because much of its work can be done remotely.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.