As Google works to bring its employees back into the office, it’s introducing an attractive new incentive: expanding its onsite wellness centres. Starting next year, more Google employees will have easy access to healthcare services right where they work.
Google took the initiative to launch its first wellness centre back in 2010 at its Mountain View headquarters in Silicon Valley. Since then, they’ve opened additional sites at offices like New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Seattle/Kirkland. Tens of thousands of employees have already taken advantage of these on-campus health services, which include flu shots and annual checkups.
For employees in different locations such as Austin, Boulder and Chicago, Google aims to set up wellness centres in these markets in 2024. In addition to these centres, Google will introduce further services, such as dermatology and gynaecology, thus enhancing accessibility among their staff.
It should also be noted that these wellness centres can only be accessed by active full-time and part-time employees. Putting aside, Google’s choice to widen its wellness centres, this is only one element in a wider movement. Inflation, labour shortage in the healthcare sector, and popular and expensive new drugs drive many employers toward increased healthcare costs. As a reaction, companies are searching for approaches to reduce healthcare coverage costs and onsite health clinics are becoming one of such solutions.
In fact, in 2021, around 23% of employers surveyed by WTW, an HR and actuarial firm, were already offering onsite health clinics, and approximately 10% had plans to do the same. This growing trend highlights the value that companies place on the health and well-being of their employees and the benefits that onsite healthcare can bring to both the workforce and the bottom line. Google’s expansion of its wellness centres aligns with this trend, showing a commitment to its employees’ health and convenience as they return to the office.
