Microsoft is now preparing to reopen its physical offices amid the declining cases of COVID-19.
After two years of closing and opening its headquarters since the pandemic started, the tech giant is now ready to transition into a physical workplace. Employees will have to adjust to the recent changes.
Microsoft is Reopening its Offices on Feb. 28
On Monday, Feb. 14, CNBC reported that the Redmond giant will now reopen its key headquarters based in California Bay Area and Washington State in the next two weeks.
As the daily cases of coronavirus increase, the company is now inclined to adapt a return-to-office setup for employees this time. Aside from the workers, the transition will mean that guests and visitors will be able to go to the respective sites.
Back in May 2021, Tech Times reported that Microsoft shared its post-pandemic plans for its workers. At that time, the firm said that it would continue to implement WFH (work-from-home) setup for the employees through a hybrid approach.
In September of the same year, the company decided to postpone the return of its employees to the offices for Oct. 4. There were over 103,000 employees in the US alone who were affected by this delay.
In Redmond, Washington, where Microsoft's main site is located, there are over 47,000 individuals who are working in the company's headquarters, according to the Redmond official site.
As it nears reopening for the US-based offices, Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela wrote a statement on a blog post.
"For nearly two years, our hybrid workplace model has anchored each of our worksites to one of six defined stages, allowing us to quickly adjust our guidance depending on health data, local government guidance, the availability of vaccines and vaccination rates and other considerations," Capossela said.
Related Article: Apple Temporarily Closes Down Stores in the US, Canada Following COVID-19 Surge Among Employees
Employees to Have 30-Day Adjustment For Return-to-Work Policy
While the announcement indicated that workers will return soon to the Microsoft offices, it does not mean that not all of them will return to working full-time. The tech titan assured that it would still give more flexibility to the staff especially those who want to work from their homes.
According to a separate report from Engadget, Microsoft will give its employees 30 days to adjust to their routines. It will start from Feb. 28 onwards. This decision is also helpful for the part of the management since it would help them retain its workers.
Regarding work adjustments, the employees are free to request their managers to put them in their desired location at desirable working hours.
Work Adjustments For Other Tech Companies
In a similar report, Meta is reportedly targeting March 28 as the date of its return to a physical office.
Meanwhile, Cupertino-based firm Apple is still delaying plans for the workers to return to the headquarters. Two years ago, Apple shut down stores in China because of the pandemic surge, as reported by Tech Times.
On the other hand, Amazon finally announced that it would now allow fully-vaccinated workers at the warehouse to refrain from wearing a mask. However, the unvaccinated employees who tested positive for COVID-19 will be deprived of their paid leaves.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
