Google has come up with a new perk for Silicon Valley’s famously spoiled staff: free, weekly COVID-19 at-home tests.
The search giant rolled out the new benefit to all of its 90,000 U.S. employees this week, a spokesman said. The initiative guarantees all of them a weekly nasal swab at home and laboratory analysis – whether they report in person or not. The company recommends that every staff member is tested weekly.
The offer proved so popular that Google’s GOOG,
GOOGL,
internal website before it crashed shortly after it went live on Thursday. Employees of Google’s top search sites, as well as businesses including YouTube, Google X, fiber optic internet, and artificial intelligence, all have access to the tests. International Google employees will have access from next year.
While other companies ranging from Tyson Foods Inc. TSN,
to Delta Air Lines Inc. VALLEY,
, have begun testing on-site employees, Google’s appears to be the largest targeting employees stuck at home since March. Google staff has since had a home working assignment, which has recently been extended until September 2021.
The polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests look for the genetic material of the virus in samples collected with a self-administered nasal swab. Google signed a contract with the healthcare company BioIQ Inc. to send the kits and find the laboratories where the results can be processed quickly.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com