Microsoft Corp. announced its flexible working plans for the future, allowing more employees to work from home permanently.
The technology giant has issued “hybrid workplace” guidance that will allow greater flexibility once its offices are reopen following the Covid-19 restrictions.
Microsoft said it provided some guidance last week to employees about work flexibility as the pandemic raised questions about what its employees can expect in the future.
While guiding about work site, the company noted that some employees are required to be onsite, while some roles and businesses are better suited for working away from the worksite than others. For most roles, the company sees that working from home for less than 50 percent of the time as now standard – assuming manager and team alignment.
Further, work schedule flexibility is now considered standard for most roles, and can be fixed with open conversation between a manager and employee regarding considerations.
A vast majority of Microsoft employees are already continuing to work from home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan said, “Flexibility can mean different things to each of us, and we recognize there is no one-size-fits-all solution given the variety of roles, work requirements and business needs we have at Microsoft. To address this, we have provided guidance to employees to make informed decisions around scenarios that could include changes to their work site, work location, and/or work hours once offices are open without any COVID-19 restrictions.”
Those employees who opt for the permanent remote work option will give up their assigned office space. However, they will have options to use touchdown space available at Microsoft’s offices.
Having said these, the company does not intend to have every employee work from anywhere, as it believes there is value in employees being together in the workplace.
In early August, Facebook Inc. had announced its plans to allow its employees to work from home until July 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak and would give them $1,000 for home office needs.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google extended the work-from-home option for its employees until at least July 2021, while Twitter is allowing its employees who want to work from home to do so permanently, even after the virus-related lockdown restrictions.
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