Microsoft announced Monday it’s reopening its Washington state and California Bay Area offices on Feb. 28 as Covid-19 cases continue to ease. Those offices will be open to employees, visitors and guests.
Microsoft postponed its Oct. 4 return to office plans indefinitely in September, impacting more than 103,000 U.S. employees. The city of Redmond, Washington where the company is based, said on its website more than 47,000 people work at Microsoft’s headquarters.
The company has been operating under a phased return-to-work plan. The latest move is its sixth and final phase, and it says it anticipates reopening the rest of its U.S. offices as conditions allow.
“For nearly two years, our hybrid workplace model has anchored each of our work sites 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,” Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said in a blog post.
Still, not all employees will return to the office full time. The company has touted more flexibility when it comes to working from home, a perk that could help retain employees.
Microsoft said Monday that it “embraces schedule flexibility as standard for most roles.” Employees can ask their managers to approve requests to adjust their work site, location or hours, the company said. Workers will have 30 days from Feb. 28 to make adjustments to their routines.
“We know there’s not a singular solution to how people work best,” Capossela said in the post.
