Google LLC was set to begin reopening some of its offices on July 6, but has now pushed back the plan to Sept. 7 “at the earliest.”

The search giant confirmed the move today in a statement to TechCrunch, after a copy of an internal memo detailing the delay was leaked. The search giant said employees will have the option to work from home until the end of the year. 

“While conditions do vary from state to state, we need to see that the U.S. outlook as a whole is stable before we move forward,” Chris Rackow, Google’s vice president of global security, wrote in the leaked memo, which was obtained by Bloomberg. “As the recent resurgence of cases demonstrates, Covid-19 is still very much alive in our communities.” 

Separately, Bloomberg reported today that Apple Inc. will re-close 30 additional U.S. stores, a move the iPhone maker has confirmed as well.

Google’s change to its reopening roadmap could potentially affect a larger number of employees. Google, whose parent Alphabet Inc. reported having 118,899 full-time workers at the end of 2019, was planning to start reopening offices starting on June 6 with an initial 10% cap on building occupancy. The goal was to increase the occupancy rate gradually to 30%, which according to the search giant would have meant that most employees who want to return to a given office could have done so on a limited basis.

“For all of you that are working from home, please continue to do so unless you are told otherwise by your manager,” Rackow told employees in the internal memo. “We don’t expect this guidance to change until Monday, September 7 (Labor Day) at the earliest.”

Some of Google’s fellow tech giants have indicated that they will allow at least some employees to work from home on a permanent basis. One of the highest profile example is Facebook Inc., whose Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg stated recently that he could see many as half of the social network’s workforce operating remotely within a decade. Twitter Inc. and Square Inc. had previously both announced they would allow workers to telecommute permanently. 

Photo: Google