Despite the company’s best efforts, some employees expressed skepticism about the proposal on internal discussion boards. At $99 per night, the cost of living in the hotel would be about $3,000 per month. Employees pointed out that they paid less for their apartments and that the offer was still too expensive. One employee even suggested that the offer could be a way for Google to reduce the number of hotel rooms available after corporate travel budgets were cut.

Last year, Google began returning most employees to physical offices three days a week, but attendance was still low for several months after the mandatory return to the office.

The company faced pushback from employees, who cited the high cost of housing near offices and higher productivity when working remotely. In June, Google announced new enforcement measures, including using office visits in performance reviews and tracking badge data. The company’s chief human resources officer even asked approved remote workers to reconsider their status and join their colleagues in the office.