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As Google seeks to get more workers back in the office, it’s adding one more carrot to entice them: Starting next year, the company will expand its suite of onsite wellness centers so that more employees can access healthcare services in the same location where they work.
Google launched its first wellness center in 2010 at its Mountain View headquarters in Silicon Valley, and has since opened additional sites at offices in New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Seattle/Kirkland, according to Ryan Lamont, a spokesperson for the company. Tens of thousands of employees have taken advantage of on-campus health services, such as flu shots and annual checkups, since the centers first launched, Lamont told HR Brew via email.
Employees had expressed interest in additional wellness center locations and an expanded range of services as teams started returning to the office, according to Lamont.
In 2024, Google plans to open new wellness centers in Austin, Boulder, and Chicago. It will also expand the suite of services it offers to include dermatology and gynecology, as well as onsite pharmacies.
The centers are an in-office benefit limited to active full and part-time employees, Lamont told us. In a follow-up email, he said employees recently laid off from Google’s recruiting team will retain access to healthcare benefits, such as telehealth and virtual consultations, through their notice period.
Zoom out. Google’s plan to expand its wellness centers comes as more employers are seeing higher health costs due to inflation, labor shortages in the healthcare sector, and the rising popularity of expensive new drugs such as GLP-1s for weight loss. Employers expect the average health benefit cost per employee to rise by 5.4% on average in 2023, according to consulting firm Mercer.
Companies see onsite health clinics as one way to reduce coverage costs. Previous studies have documented cost savings for companies that open in-house clinics for their employees.
In 2021, nearly a quarter (23%) of employers surveyed by WTW, an HR and actuarial firm, offered an onsite health clinic, and around 10% were planning to do so.