Google and Facebook have told most employees to keep working from home for the rest of the year as part of a response by the tech giants to the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai told Google staff at an all-hands meeting that its remote work policy will be extended until 2021, the Silicon Valley giant confirmed Friday.

Any return to offices was expected to be incremental and staggered, according to the company.

The news came along with U.S. media reports that Facebook is also letting workers tend to their jobs remotely for the rest of this year.

Google employees who need to return to offices will be able to do that in the next month or two, with added safety measures in place due to coronavirus concerns, but most of the staff will continue working from home.

Facebook's updated plan is to re-open offices in early July, but let people work from home if they prefer until 2021, according to reports.