Microsoft to allow more employees to work from office in headquarters with hybrid model

Microsoft is set to recall more employees who have been working-from-home amid the coronavirus pandemic back to the office starting March 29. The software firm seeks to opt for a hybrid work approach moving forward. In a blog post on Monday,  Microsoft’s executive vice president in charge of COVID-19 response efforts, Kurt Delbene said that the employees will have the option to either work remotely on the worksites or do a mix. Microsoft, which currently has a workforce of 160,000 employees, said that it was about time that it reopened its Redmond, Washington, headquarters as the site is prepared to accommodate more workers in accordance with the government’s protocol and health safety measures. 

“In March last year, I sent an email to our employees worldwide, indicating we were instituting a mandatory work-from-home policy for our global work sites, except essential on-site workers,” Microsoft’s Executive Vice President said.

He added, “after over a year in which most Microsoft employees have worked remotely, several of our work sites around the globe have reached a stage where they meet or exceed government requirements to accommodate more workers.”

Furthermore, Delbene informed that Microsoft work sites in over 21 countries have been able to accommodate additional workers across several facilities, which represents around 20 percent of the global employee workforce. Outlining the roadmap for the new hybrid workplace model, the company said that it will provide a balance between the balance and limited additional services on campus for those who choose to return, and those that feel the need to work remotely.

Return-to-work phased strategy

“Our goal is to give employees further flexibility, allowing people to work where they feel most productive and comfortable,” Microsoft said, as it listed plans for the safe reopening. The firm stated that its return-to-work site strategy will be effective in implementing both, the public health conditions and government guidance, to keep the employees safe against the novel coronavirus risks. 

Microsoft cautiously operated a six-phase reopening plan as opposed to a certain timeline to recall the employees. The company had made the work from home mandatory when the pandemic hit, slowly accommodating essential services workers by the third phase of its reopening strategy. With health safety measures such as social distancing, mandatory use of masks, and health attestations, sanitization of sites, nearly all campuses for the software company will restore pre-covid capacities, DelBene said.

(Image Credit: The Associated Press)